Circular precast concrete manholes: experimental investigation

Abstract

Circular precast concrete manholes are widely used in sanitary sewer and storm water systems. The lack of detailed technical information on them and the conservatism of their governing codes and standards call for a detailed investigation on them. The main objectives of this paper are to evaluate the state of strains in the precast concrete manhole and state of stresses in the soil beneath the base to be used in developing enhanced guidelines for the design of their bases. Three full-scale circular precast concrete manholes, two 1200 mm in diameter and one 1500 mm in diameter, were tested in the large-scale geotechnical testing facility (LSGTF) at the University of Western Ontario. Only one 1200 mm manhole base was reinforced. Twenty seven load tests were performed on the manholes, which involved loads representing the Ontario truck loads incorporated in the Canadian Highway Bridge Code. None of the manhole sections tested in the experimental program experienced any cracks. The test results showed that traffic loading had a small effect on the pressure under the manhole base. All three specimens could withstand the critical Ontario truck loads, even the non-reinforced ones.