ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of model studies of the effect of corrosion on the behaviour of a soil-steel struc-ture (a culvert) under static loads. Moreover, the effect of time on the obtained results was assessed. A steel pipe with a diameter of 1.40 m and a length of 7.25 m made of 2 mm thick corrugated plate with 125 × 26 mm corrugations constituted the shell of the culvert. The backfill height over the pipe crown was 0.5 m. Deterioration of the tested steel pipe due to corrosion was stimulated by partial removing of the conduit bottom. Strain gauges installed on the metal surface were used to determine stresses and internal forces in the metal shell. The main goal of the full-scale tests was to assess the behaviour of the deteriorated steel pipe under static loads and to evaluate the changes in the distribution of internal forces, due to the increasing corrosion of the bottom part of the tested pipe.
