Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
  • E01F—ADDITIONAL WORK, SUCH AS EQUIPPING ROADS OR THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLATFORMS, HELICOPTER LANDING STAGES, SIGNS, SNOW FENCES, OR THE LIKE
  • E01F5/00—Draining the sub-base, i.e. subgrade or ground-work, e.g. embankment of roads or of the ballastway of railways or draining-off road surface or ballastway drainage by trenches, culverts, or conduits or other specially adapted means
  • E01F5/005—Culverts ; Head-structures for culverts, or for drainage-conduit outlets in slopes

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for thawing out road culverts choked with ice and also relates to an apparatus for carrying out said method.
• a common problem in connection with winter maintenance is that road culverts become completely choked with ice, which makes it impossible to drain melted ice through the road culverts in warm weather, and especially by the spring flood. If such a road culvert that is completely choked with ice is not thawed out before the spring flood this may cause serious flooding and also a danger of parts of the road way being washed away.
• the , -reason for this is that if the steam pipe has such a length that it may reach through the entire length of the road culvert it will not be possible to keep it close to the upper portion of the road culvert through ⁇ out the entire length thereof and accordingly the steam pipe wi ll def lect such that in the worst case it will leave the culvert close to its bottom. Accordingly it may also happen that the steam pipe will be stopped and cannot be brought through the entire length of the road culvert in case stones have fallen into the road culvert and remained therein on the bottom of the culvert.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus by means of which the above discussed disadvan ⁇ tages in connection with conventional methods may be elimina ⁇ ted as far as possible.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of the principles of the present invention in connection with a road embankment with a road culvert, both in cross section,
• Fig . 2 i llustrates a ground attachment of the apparatus according to the invention
• Fig . 3 i llustrates a culvert attachment of the apparatus according to the invention
• Fig . 4a illustrates an edge cover in combination with the rope in its unloaded condition
• Fig . 4b i llustrates the edge- cover according to Fig. 4a, but with the rope in its loaded condition
• Fig . 5 illustrates a modified embodiment with several appara ⁇ tuses according to the invention positioned in a road culvert
• Fig. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the rope having an alternative cross-sectional shape.
• Fig. 1 schematically illustrates the use of the invention by a road culvert 1 extended through a road embankment 2 in order to conduct melted ice and/or rain-water from an inlet side la to an outlet side lb.
• the outlet side lb of the culvert is relatively freely accessible from the outside even if the road culvert 1 is completely choked with ice, and thus, for reasons which will be explained below, a culvert attachment 3 is posi ⁇ tioned in connection with the outlet end lb of the culvert.
• An embodiment of the culvert attachment 3 is illustrated in greater detail in Fig. 3 from which it is clear that the cul ⁇ vert attachment has a first portion 3a intended to be clamped to the culvert.
• the first portion 3a comprises an inner leg 4 and an outer leg 5 between which the culvert 1 is introduced and clamped by means of a bolt 6 engaging a threaded bore in the outer leg 5.
• the other portion 3b of the culvert attachment is formed integral with the first portion 3a and is at. its outer end releasably connected to a clamping means 8, for instance by means of a screw-nut connec ⁇ tion 8a.
• the clamping means 8 consists of a flat bar being bent into a helical shape in its free end for pivotal mounting on a pin 9 being firmly connected to a plate secured to the culvert attachment substantially mid ⁇ way between its ends.
• a ground attachment 11 is anchored in the road embankment 2 or at some other suitable place in accor ⁇ dance with what will be discussed below.
• a suitable embodiment of the ground attachment 11 is illustrated which in one of its ends is provided with a peg 12 which is pointed in one of its ends and which is intended to be forced down into the ground for anchoring the ground attachment.
• the ground attachment 11 is provided with a plate 13 which essentially corresponds to the plate 7 on the culvert attach ⁇ ment of Fig. 3 and which accordingly is provided with a pin 14 for pivotal mounting of one end of a clamping means 15 which in turn corresponds to the clamping means 8 of Fig. 3.
• the clamping means 15 has a helically shaped end for mounting on the pin 14, and in its opposite end it is releasably attached to the ground attachment 11, preferably by means of a nut 15a screwed onto a threaded upper portion of the anchoring peg 12. It will now be realized that in accordance with what has been described in connection with Fig. 3 the clamping means 15 is intended for releasably clamping, the rope 10 between its heli ⁇ cal end and a portion of the ground attachment 11.
• the edge cover 16 in a suitable embodiment consists of a first portion 16a which to a great extent corresponds to the first portion 3a of the culvert attachment 3 and thus comprises an inner leg 17 and an outer leg 18 between which the culvert 1 is clamped by means of a bolt 19 screwed into a threaded bore in the outer leg 18.
• the other portion 16b of the edge cover provides the guiding proper for the rope 10 and for this purpose includes an upwardly bent guide rail 20 having a smooth curvature for deflecting the rope 10 between 90° and 180°, in the illustrated embodiment approximately 135°.
• the guide rail 20 has an inner, longitudinal groove having a shape essentially corresponding to that of the rope 10.
• the latter is also provided with a number of guide loops 21 evenly distributed along the length of the guide rail, and through these loops the rope is threaded.
• the elongated means which according to the invention is intended to be extended through a road culvert, herein is referred to as a rope this term is not intended to delimit the invention regarding the cross-sectional shape or surface of the elongated means.
• the rope in the illustrated embodiments has a substantially circular cross-sectional shape it is obvious that the term rope should also cover rectangular, triangular or other suitable cross-section shapes.
• the rope 10 is intended to be extended through the road culvert 1 and to be clamped at the culvert attachment 3 as well as at the ground attachment 11.
• the rope is substantially solid or homogeneous (possibly with air bubbles contained in the material) and in the illustrated embodiments it has a basically circular sectional area.
• the rope is cut into a suitable length corresponding to the length of the road culvert to which it is to be attached.
• Characteris ⁇ tic of the rope is that it is manufactured from a material which at least to a certain degree may be reversibly extended, i.e. a material which when it is subject to a tension load undergoes a certain, not permanent, reduction in cross section. Thus, when the tension load is removed the rope shall resume its original shape.
• the rope In either or both of its ends the rope is provided with a hook 22 the function of which will be described below. In certain cases it may also be preferable to provide the free ends of the rope with a not shown web or stocking intended to protect the rope from external damage through for instance gravel and rocks.
• the assembly is carried out such that a culvert attachment 3 of the kind described above is clamped to the outlet side lb of the culvert 1.
• the ground attachment 11 may be secured by forcing the anchoring peg 12 into the ground by means of any suitable tool so that it is firmly anchored, and the anchoring may be carried out in eilternative places depending upon the surroun ⁇ ding terrain.
• the ground attach ⁇ ment shall be anchored at a spot where there is little danger that it will become covered by ice during winter.
• the clamping is carried out in such a way that the clamping means 8 and 15 respectively is disengaged and is swung about the pin 9 and 14 respectively, whereupon the rope is installed in the respective attachment and is clamped in position by means of the clamping means which are secured by the nut 8a and 15a respectively.
• the rope 10 is clamped to the attachments in its substantially unloaded condition, i.e. with ⁇ out being subject to any essential tension load.
• the procedure is such that the rope is released at the culvert attachment 3 by the outlet side lb of the culvert, possibly subsequent to exposing this side by removing snow, through dis ⁇ engaging the clamping means 8 and swinging the same about the pin 9.
• the rope which in this embodiment should have a high reversible extensibility is then stretched or tensioned by hand from the outlet side lb while remaining clamped at the ground attachment 11, and through this tension load and due to the tensibility of the material the rope 10 is immediately released from the ice as its cross-sectional area is greatly reduced.
• a free passage for the melted ice is established around the circumference of the rope and when this has been achieved the rope is clamped to the culvert attachment 3 again in its loaded condition so that the water may continue to flow in the passage in such a way that it wears its way through the ice and finally clears the whole culvert.
• the rope 10 by this embodiment should have as high a reversible extensi ⁇ bility as possible in order to establish the largest possible passage for the melted ice when it is stretched or tensioned.
• the rope may also be suitable if the rope has a rectangular cross-sectional shape in order to leave as wide a passage as possible for the melted ice to thereby ensure a positive clearing of the complete culvert.
• a rope 10' is i llustrated having an alternative cross -sectional shape with longitudinal grooves or channels .
• This rope is intended to be twisted in connection with the stretching or tensioning thereof so that the grooves assume a screw line shape around the rope.
• this configuration establishes a somewhat larger passage for the melted ice it also gives the ice a non-uniform surface so that the melted ice more efficiently wears of f the ice. This is even further emphasized if the grooves or channels initially are helically shaped in the rope .

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Road Paving Structures (AREA)
• Ropes Or Cables (AREA)
• Road Repair (AREA)
• Devices Affording Protection Of Roads Or Walls For Sound Insulation (AREA)
• Crushing And Grinding (AREA)
• Disintegrating Or Milling (AREA)
• Sewage (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20359260

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (9)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 1985
  • 1985-02-25 SE SE8500914A patent/SE446547B/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1986
  • 1986-02-10 CA CA000501528A patent/CA1244663A/en not_active Expired
  • 1986-02-24 WO PCT/SE1986/000080 patent/WO1986004939A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1986-02-24 US US06/931,722 patent/US4770211A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1986-02-24 EP EP86901571A patent/EP0246240B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1986-02-24 DE DE8686901571T patent/DE3672830D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1987
  • 1987-08-17 FI FI873561A patent/FI84924C/fi not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (5)

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