Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Kimberly W. Kramer / The concept of prestressed concrete appeared in 1888 when P.H. Jackson was granted the first
patent in the United States for prestressed concrete design. Jackson’s idea was perfect, but the
technology of high strength steel that exhibited low relaxation characteristics was not yet
available. It was not until Eugene Freyssinet defined the need for these materials that prestressed
concrete could be used as a structural building material. Unfortunately, although Freyssinet, a
brilliant structural designer and bridge builder, lacked the teaching qualities necessary to
communicate his ideas to other engineers. It would take Gustave Magnel to write the first book
of design in prestressed concrete, communicating this idea to designers worldwide. Magnel
designed and built the legendary Walnut Lane Bridge in Philadelphia, which revolutionized
prestressed concrete in America. Simultaneously, Urlich Finsterwalder, the German bridge
builder and designer, was revolutionizing the construction means and methods for prestressed
concrete bridges. For example, Finsterwalder invented the free-cantilever construction method
of prestressed concrete bridges, which allowed long span bridges to be constructed without
stabilized shoring. He then designed stress-ribbon bridges, which would eventually allow
prestressed concrete to span distances only steel suspension bridges could achieve. However, it
wasn’t until Paul Abeles and his peer, H. von Emperger studied and tested prestressed concrete
that the idea of “partial prestressing” emerged. Initially, Freyssinet and Magnel were adamant
that prestressed concrete should not be allowed to exhibit any tensile forces at sustained loading.
Later, the Roebling family developed the first stress--relieved wire followed by the first stress--
relieved strand. T.Y. Lin once again brought prestressed concrete back into the spotlight when
he organized the First Prestressed Concrete World Conference in 1957. Shortly after this
conference, Lin published a technical paper in the Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Journal
that introduced a new Load Balancing technique which allowed most structural engineers to
design prestressed concrete very easily.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/1439 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Dinges, Tyson |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Report |
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