Culvert Emergency Repairs and Rehabilitation
American Lane Culvert Emergency Repairs & Rehabilitation
Village of Schaumburg, IL
American Lane in the Village of Schaumburg, IL, is located in a heavily-developed commercial area that includes a business park and municipal heliport.
The culvert system along American Lane consists of 185 lineal feet of dual 84-inch corrugated metal pipes (CMPs) and 1,500 lineal feet of dual 96-inch CMPs conveys the middle reach of the West Branch of Salt Creek, which has an upstream drainage area of 2.4 square miles. The culverts convey over 200 cubic feet per second in full flood condition.
The Village had identified the replacement of the culvert system, but due to anticipated construction costs and disruptions to the business park, a rehabilitation program was developed. At the beginning of the project, one of the 84-inch culverts unexpectedly collapsed, blocking 50% of the conveyance capacity of the project. The rehabilitation project quickly evolved into an emergency repair.
Due to safety protocols, no one was injured, and no equipment was lost. Emergency repairs were quickly initiated to restore the 84-inch culvert.
The collapse severely limited the conveyance capacity of the culvert system, and if a large storm were to occur, it could result in flooding of a nearby state highway, portions of the business park, and other local roads. Additionally, due to the location of the collapse, the pavement of American Lane was at risk if the subsidence of the surrounding roadway embankment continued. The collapse caused work to stop while an assessment was made.
Several approaches were considered, including the purchase of new 84-inch culverts and suspending the contract until the repairs were completed. It was unknown how long it would take to order and receive the replacement culverts, as significant backorders of materials were happening throughout the construction industry at the time due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It would also require fabricating special sections to accommodate the non-standard alignment and connections of this unusual conveyance system. A replacement of the pipe would also require a significant amount of excavation near a federally regulated wetland, which could result in additional delays in approval from the Army Corp of Engineers (USACE).
The chosen repair method involved removing the overburdening soils and jacking the collapsed sections back in place; adding reinforcement steel; and spraying a geopolymer cementitious mortar on the reinforcement steel and re-established steel culvert.
CMT’s environmental staff completed an ecological resources report to describe the wetlands and other regulated waters as well as evaluate threatened and endangered species habitat, and USACE and Illinois Department of Natural Resources coordination and permitting.
