PRESTRESSING OF H.T.

S STRANDS

This item of work deals with the activity of Prestressing of H.T.S strands of PSC girders
with approved materials as per the specifications of the contract agreement.

1. General

This item of work shall be dealt in compliance to the clause 1800 of technical
specifications.
The materials shall confirm to section 1000 and the grout mix shall confirm to section
1808 of technical specifications.

2.Procedure

Cable Fabrication & Laying:

 The length of the cable required shall be computed from the drawing and adding
due allowances for profiling and gripping length of Jack .
 The Strand shall be cut evenly by abrasive cutter in required length.
 Both ends of the cable shall be numbered in order to place the strand in correct
configuration in the bearing plate to prevent twisting of cable in duct.
 The duct shall be profiled first as per the ordinates and cable shall be threaded
into the duct manually .The grout vents if required shall be provided.
 Tube ducts of the anchorage shall be fixed with the end blocks as specified in the
drawings.
 The ducts shall be connected to the tube units.
 The cable consisting of number of strands specified in drawing will be tied
together with binding wire at suitable regular intervals and threaded into
sheathing .
 Both ends of the duct shall be closed after strand installation and the protruding
length of the strands shall be wrapped suitably to protect from entry of dirt inside
during concreting.

Concreting:
 During the concreting , the cables shall be moved to and fro manually at suitable
intervals to ensure that any concrete entering the duct gets disintegrated and does
not jam the cable.
 The strands beyond the bearing plate shall be cleaned after concreting using petrol
in order to remove dust/rust etc.
Stressing Operation:

 The Stressing of cables can be done from both ends

 The bearing plates duly cleaned shall be fixed in proper configuration.
 The wedges shall be fixed to the bearing plates and tightened.
 The Jacks will be mounted in position at both ends and shall be aligned to the
cable and fitted over the bearing plate.
 The master grips of the jacks are inserted over the strands and fixed into the
pulling plate of the jack.
 The stressing pumps shall be connected to the jack through the hose pipes.
 First reading should be subtracted from last reading and divided with number of
intervals till that reading to give correction factor. For calculating the total
elongation, the first reading shall be subtracted from elongation reading at full
load and correction factor should be added.
 Initial Pressure of 50kg/sq.cm shall be applied to the cable to remove the
slackness of the cable and corresponding elongation is measured .
 The Pressure shall then be increased gradually by regular intervals and elongation
shall be recorded..
 The tensioning force shall be applied to any tendon shall be determined by direct
reading of the pressure gauges and by comparison of the measured elongation
with the calculated elongation.
 The difference between calculated and observed tension and elongation during
prestressing operations shall be as follows:
1. If the calculated elongation is reached before the specified gauge pressure
is obtained, continue tensioning till attaining the specified gauge pressure,
provided the elongation does not exceed 1.05 times the calculated
elongation. If the calculated elongation is reached before the specified
gauge pressure is attained , stop stressing and inform Engineer.
2. If the calculated elongation has not been reached at the specified gauge
pressure, continue tensioning by intervals of 5kg/sq.cm until the calculated
elongation is reached provided the gauge pressure does not exceed 1.05
times the specified gauge pressure.
3. If the elongation at 1.05 times the specified gauge pressure is less than
0.95 times the calculated elongation, the following measures must be
taken, in succession, to determine the cause of this lack discrepancy
i)check the correct functioning of jack,pump and leads.
ii)Detension the cable.Slide it in duct to check that it is not blocked by
mortar which has entered through holes in the sheath.retension the cable if
free.
 On reaching the specified full load , the wedges shall be locked hydraulically .
 Jack shall be fully released and retracted.
 Same procedure shall be repeated for all cables.
Grouting :

 All protruding ends of the strands shall be cut before prestressing. Nozzles and
valves shall be fitted to the tube units at the grout holes provided at only end of
the cable.
 The ducts shall be flushed with lime water .The Grout shall be prepared with
ordinary Portland cement and non shrink grout admixture.
 Grouting shall be commenced initially with a low pressure of injection until it
comes out at the other end .The grout shall be allowed to flow freely from the
other end until the consistency of the grout becomes almost same a that of the
injection end.
 The other end shall then be closed with suitable plug .Once the desired pressure of
injection reaches , the valve at the entry point shall be closed.

3. Equipment/Machinery

1. Hydraulic Jack
2. Pressure Gauge
3. Compressor
5. Gouting Equipment
6. Grout Cube Moulds
4. Tolerances
1. variation from the specified horizontal profile : 5mm
2. Variation from the specified vertical profile : 5mm
3. Variation from the specified position in member : 5mm