The Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Inspector’s Reference Manual (BIRM) is a comprehensive manual on programs, procedures, and techniques for inspecting and evaluating a variety of in-service highway bridges. BIRM serves as the basis of a comprehensive National Highway Institute training program in bridge-safety inspection. The present course is based on pp. P.3.1-P.3.36 of BIRM’s introductory section, Basic Concepts Primer, and treats the topic of culverts. This course is based on the Basics Concepts Primer section, pp. P.3.1-P.3.36, of the Federal Highway Administration Bridge Inspector’s Reference Manual, Publication No. FHWA NHI 03-001, October, 2002, Revised December, 2006.

• Differentiation between culverts and bridges
• Structural characteristics of culverts
• Culvert shapes
• Culvert materials
• Culvert end treatments
• Hydraulics of culverts
• Factors affecting culvert performance
• Types and locations of culvert distress
• Durability
• Soil and water conditions that affect culverts
• Culvert protective systems