New River Gorge National River, Sandstone, West Virginia: Box Culverts

Project Description:

The United States National Park Service along with the WVDOT is in the process of upgrading five (5) miles WV Rte. 125 soon to be named the New River Parkway.

In order to blend in with the natural and beautiful surroundings of the New River Gorge National River, all exposed concrete in the wing walls and headwalls of the box culvert runs were stained to match the color of the native stone in the area.

The total project involved 3 new box culvert installations and one spread box beam bridge, along with 2200+ pieces of precast lagging soon to be installed during the construction of a retaining wall along the route. This wall will be finished with a cut stone appearance and also stained.

The box culverts ranged in size from 12×4 to 10×6. Two of the culverts were installed on grades exceeding 10%. Cast within the boxes were precast baffles designed to slow the water flow and allow placement of natural stones in the culverts to simulate a natural stream channel condition for the native trout found in the tributary’s feeding the river.