A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom, the word can also be used for a longer artificially buried watercourse.

Culverts are commonly used both as cross-drains to relieve drainage of ditches at the roadside, and to pass water under a road at natural drainage and stream crossings. When they are found beneath roads, they are frequently empty. A culvert may also be a bridge-like structure designed to allow vehicle or pedestrian traffic to cross over the waterway while allowing adequate passage for the water. Dry culverts are used to channel a fire hose beneath a noise barrier for the ease of firefighting along a highway without the need or danger of placing hydrants along the roadway itself.

Culverts come in many sizes and shapes including round, elliptical, flat-bottomed, open-bottomed, pear-shaped, and box-like constructions. The culvert type and shape selection is based on a number of factors including requirements for hydraulic performance, limitations on upstream water surface elevation, and roadway embankment height.

The process of removing culverts to restore an open-air watercourse is known as daylighting. In the UK, the practice is also known as deculverting.

Culverts can be constructed of a variety of materials including cast-in-place or precast concrete (reinforced or non-reinforced), galvanized steel, aluminum, or plastic (typically high-density polyethylene). Two or more materials may be combined to form composite structures. For example, open-bottom corrugated steel structures are often built on concrete footings.

Construction or installation at a culvert site generally results in disturbance of the site's soil, stream banks, or stream bed, and can result in the occurrence of unwanted problems such as scour holes or slumping of banks adjacent to the culvert structure.

Culverts must be properly sized and installed, and protected from erosion and scour. Many US agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration, Bureau of Land Management, and Environmental Protection Agency, as well as state or local authorities, require that culverts be designed and engineered to meet specific federal, state, or local regulations and guidelines to ensure proper function and to protect against culvert failures.

Culverts are classified by standards for their load capacities, water flow capacities, life spans, and installation requirements for bedding and backfill. Most agencies adhere to these standards when designing, engineering, and specifying culverts.