To ensure system safety and performance, the City of Greensboro conducts inspections and assessments of their in-service culverts and storm drain systems on a five-year cycle. In 2020, the City identified 609 culvert locations. A&O acted as a subconsultant to WithersRavenel to help perform the inspections and assessments. For the 609 locations, a total of 1072 inspections were performed with A&O completing 926 of them. The project included the development of a GIS data base of the inspection data collected. A&O assisted with the development of the database utilizing Survey123 and Collector mobile applications for collection of the inspection data, to be used with ArcGIS, for the City of Greensboro’s culverts.

Overview
  Owner:
 
      City of Greensboro
Location: 

      Greensboro, NC
Prime Consultant: WithersRavenel
Contact:

      Jana Stewart 

    333-279-0867
  
Start / completion:

      9/2020 – 1/2022
 Project fee:

      $349,300.00
Principal-in-Charge:
 Ted Bartelt, PE

  Experience
  Culvert assessment
Visual inspection
Documentation
GIS entry
Recommendations for repairs

Using the GIS mobile application, A&O performed 926 visual inspections of the City’s culverts that were 48 inches and larger.

The inspection teams acted to verify previously collected data such as size, length, culvert material and coating (concrete, galvanized steel, etc.), shape of culvert (circular, rectangle, arch, etc.), and end treatment.

The teams walked through each culvert that was accessible carefully documenting and photographing the conditions such as size and location of cracks, joint separations and exposed rebar.

The inspectors also documented any performance issues, including vegetation debris, sediment buildup, stream bed scour, and undermining of the culvert.

For inaccessible culverts, A&O performed as much of the inspection as possible.

As part of the inspection, A&O provided a general overview of the culvert and recommendations for addressing the issues, such as removing debris and sediment, monitoring cracks, and repairing scour.

A&O gave each culvert a structural defect grade between 1 and 5, with 5 being critical. This grade provides the City a way to prioritize needed repairs and plan for future budget needs.

The collected data was provided to the City for uploading into their GIS culvert database. Ω