Box Culvert Wildlife Crossing

• Wendy Andonayre
• Karim Hosseini
• Xavier Darosa

Wildlife and human activity interact because wild populations grow rapidly and high speed roads present a geographical barrier. Deer are the most likely species to collide with vehicles in the United States and these collisions cost money for vehicle owners, the lives of animals, time and resources of insurance companies, and highway clean up dealing with collision aftermath. To help mitigate the damage done to species ever changing habitats by human developments, wildlife crossings can be utilized to both save money in the long-term and avoid ungulate-vehicle collisions. Wildlife crossings have been utilized in the US, Europe, and Asia which all have large dense populations. When comparing these crossings, overpasses seemed to be the most effective in mitigating collisions because many animal species are either too large or too afraid to use tunnels and culverts. Other methods of mitigating collisions between animal species and human vehicles like driver education and warning sign implementation were assessed to be ineffective. As a driver, it is often too late to react driving to avoid an accident. After assessment of alternative methods, the most logical decision is to add wildlife overpass crossings in areas of the United States that experience high risk to UVC’s. A design will be drawn and analyzed to sustain expected loads while closely following code requirements, state and federal design constraints, and local municipal regulations. A conclusive maintenance schedule and summary will be provided after designs and analysis are completed. The long term benefits of implementing a box culvert wildlife crossing will surpass the initial costs of construction and design. The method of construction will be utilizing prefabrication and locally sourced material. The goal of the wildlife crossing will be to protect wildlife from drivers, and to protect drivers from unnecessary accidents and costs associated.