This document is the PPI Culvert & Storm Drain System Inspection Guide. Background, highlights, opportunities with corresponding tables provided.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) released a “Culvert & Storm Drain System Inspection Guide” in 2020. This document is intended to replace the previous “1986 FHWA Culvert Inspection Manual.” The guide was developed for assessing the condition of in-service culvert & storm drain systems (culverts) that would ensure the systems safety and performance as well as the economical use of owner resources. The development of this guide was overseen

by the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), engineers, academia, industry leaders, and pipe manufacturers. This will provide inspectors clear guidelines to assess and rate the condition of culverts and all system components.

When you install ADS pipe, you can be sure it will provide dependable drainage for many years to come. Problems that often surface with other drainage materials simply don’t occur with ADS pipe.

Highlights include unbiased 3rd party guidance, equal treatment and comprehensive material coverage. Opportunities are roadway impact, culvert rating impacting post-installation inspection, crack widths & deflections with tables showing the information for reinforced concrete and plastic pipe.

The tables should be used when evaluating and rating each characteristic of the culvert & storm drain components. The highest numerical rating assigned to any of these characteristics is the rating of the system component as a whole. It features the ratings for plastic pipe, concrete pipe and corrugated metal pipe with good/fair/poor/severe classifications.