Box Culvert Solution for Dam Replacement
PROJECT NAME
Box Culvert Solution for 13 Island Lake Dam Replacement
SITE
Hamilton Lane, Godfrey, Ontario
CONTRACTOR
PRODUCTS USED
1800 X 900mm Drycast & Wetcast Box Culvert
ENGINEER
Jewell Engineering - Yongjun Wang, P.eng. Branch Manager
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Located approximately 30 km north of Kingston Ontario, in the Township of South Frontenac, the existing structure consisted of four corrugated steel pipe culverts along with some dam components to enable water level control as well as outflow control. The structure was constructed in 1975. Because the corrugated steel culverts have deteriorated and have rusted through completely in numerous locations along their length, Thirteen Island Lake Dam was coming to the end of its service life.
Jewell Engineering was awarded the engineering, design, and inspection contract and the General Contractor for the project was awarded to Doornekamp Construction.
Long service life and durability were key considerations during the design phase and a precast concrete structure was selected to provide these characteristics given the critical nature of the infrastructure being replaced.
The design for the new structure was composed of a triple-cell (three parallel runs) of 1800 x 900mm precast concrete box culvert, a new cutoff wall, and provisions for water control stop logs, as well as a pedestrian safety railing.
For speed of production, provincial standard OPSS 1821 dry-cast box culvert sections were used for most of the pieces. However, the Township of South Frontenac needed to have a cast-in stop log system to control the flow of water into Thirteen Island Lake.
M CON Products was selected as the precast concrete supplier for this project. M CON’s engineering department provided a solution to have standard 1800 x 900mm box sections include some custom modifications to allow for the cast-in stop log system to be incorporated in the box culvert end units. M CON was able to manufacture the end units, by utilizing their custom wet cast expertise, with 100mm deep C-channels cast into the walls to hold the 150 x 150mm stop logs and therefore thicker side walls. This was done while keeping the floor and top slabs the same thickness as the rest of the culvert for ease of installation and esthetics. Additionally, custom locking grates were also incorporated in the top slab of the end units to allow Quinte Conservation Authority staff access to add and remove the stop logs when required for flow control.
The twelve dry-cast units were produced in two days and each of the three custom end pieces took one day. Precast concrete boxes provide not only long service life and durability but also allow for significant custom modification of the dam/culvert structure while still providing a very short production and delivery time which allowed the project to be completed on schedule.
I would like to thank the M CON Products’ manufacturing and engineering departments for their support and expertise that helped us meet the project challenges and provide the Township of South Frontenac with durable and resilient infrastructure that will be in service for many years to come.