16 Facts About Prestressed concrete

Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction.

The essence of prestressed concrete is that once the initial compression has been applied, the resulting material has the characteristics of high-strength concrete when subject to any subsequent compression forces and of ductile high-strength steel when subject to tension forces.

Prestressed concrete is used in a wide range of building and civil structures where its improved performance can allow for longer spans, reduced structural thicknesses, and material savings compared with simple reinforced concrete.

Pre-tensioned concrete is a variant of prestressed concrete where the tendons are tensioned prior to the concrete being cast.

Pre-tensioning is a common prefabrication technique, where the resulting Prestressed concrete element is manufactured remotely from the final structure location and transported to site once cured.

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Pre-tensioned Prestressed concrete is most commonly used for the fabrication of structural beams, floor slabs, hollow-core planks, balconies, lintels, driven piles, water tanks and Prestressed concrete pipes.

Post-tensioned concrete is a variant of prestressed concrete where the tendons are tensioned after the surrounding concrete structure has been cast.

Tendons are not placed in direct contact with the Prestressed concrete, but are encapsulated within a protective sleeve or duct which is either cast into the Prestressed concrete structure or placed adjacent to it.

Once the Prestressed concrete has been cast and set, the tendons are tensioned by pulling the tendon ends through the anchorages while pressing against the Prestressed concrete.

Anchorages at each end of the tendon transfer the tensioning force to the Prestressed concrete, and are required to reliably perform this role for the life of the structure.

Durability of prestressed concrete is principally determined by the level of corrosion protection provided to any high-strength steel elements within the prestressing tendons.

Prestressed concrete is a highly versatile construction material as a result of it being an almost ideal combination of its two main constituents: high-strength steel, pre-stretched to allow its full strength to be easily realised; and modern concrete, pre-compressed to minimise cracking under tensile forces.

Prestressing of Prestressed concrete allows "load-balancing" forces to be introduced into the structure to counter in-service loadings.

Some notable building structures constructed from prestressed concrete include: Sydney Opera House and World Tower, Sydney; St George Wharf Tower, London; CN Tower, Toronto; Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong; Ocean Heights 2, Dubai; Eureka Tower, Melbourne; Torre Espacio, Madrid; Guoco Tower, Singapore; Zagreb International Airport, Croatia; and Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi UAE.

Prestressed concrete has been established as a reliable construction material for high-pressure containment structures such as nuclear reactor vessels and containment buildings, and petrochemical tank blast-containment walls.

Some notable civil structures constructed using prestressed concrete include: Gateway Bridge, Brisbane Australia; Incheon Bridge, South Korea; Roseires Dam, Sudan; Wanapum Dam, Washington, US; LNG tanks, South Hook, Wales; Cement silos, Brevik Norway; Autobahn A73 bridge, Itz Valley, Germany; Ostankino Tower, Moscow, Russia; CN Tower, Toronto, Canada; and Ringhals nuclear reactor, Videbergshamn Sweden.