UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

LEE KONG CHIAN FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE

UEBE1233 CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY II

INTERGRATED ASSIGNMENT

COURSE : BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) QUANTITY SURVEYING

GROUP : T3-G1

LECTURER : DR. LIEW YOKE LIAN

No. Name Student ID

1. Amy Hue Wen Xin 1802930
2. Chia Hui Ting 1702928
3. Chong Jia Min 1703074
4. Chong Yen Sin 1701928
5. Lee Xue Yi 1704298
6. Mah Yuen Yuan 1805784
7. Tan Zi Sheng 1700401
8. Wong Li Ye 1702945
9. Yoong Xin Yee 1702601
TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………… 3

2. Reason of Proposing Post-tensioned Beam………………………………… 4

3. Sequence of Work during Installation……………………………………… 5

4. Plant and Equipment………………………………………………………... 8

5. Number of Labours Required………………………………………………. 9

6. Duration……………………………………………………………………. 11

7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………. 12

8. Reference…………………………………………………………………... 13

9. Appendices……………………………………………………………….... 13

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
In this project, the KL south, a 12m x 12m five stories apartment is located
and constructed in the Bandar Sungai Long residential area. As we know, normal
concrete is weak in tension but strong in compression. This is a weak point of
concrete which results in early flexural cracks mainly in beams and slabs. Hence, to
overcome concrete’s natural weakness in tension, a material called prestressed
structure is used to construct the beams in each floor level in this apartment building.
Prestressed structure is made up by prestressed concrete which is different
from the ordinary reinforced concrete. In ordinary reinforced concrete, stresses,
especially tensile stress is carried by the reinforcing bars whereas prestressed concrete
has high strength steel wires that used to introduce initial compression in a concrete
member so that it is able to accommodate the load by inducing stresses throughout the
entire structural element. Therefore, this makes it increases span length, more resistant
to vibration and shock compared to normal reinforced concrete. In addition, it is able
to form long and thin structure with much smaller sectional areas to support
equivalent loads.
Prestressed structure classified into two types, which are pre-tensioning
method and post-tensioning method. Pre-tensioning method is prestressed
construction basically and mostly done at a factory whereas post-tensioning method is
mostly done on site. The prestressed beam in this apartment building is processed
through post-tensioning method. In post-tensioned beam, the tendons are stressed and
each end is anchored to the concrete section after the concrete has been cast and has
attained sufficient strength to withstand the prestressing force. Then, the void between
the tendon and the sheath is filled with grout after the tendon has been stressed.
Therefore, the tendons become bonded to concrete and corrosion of steel is prevented.
This process generally formed at the job site. (Gopal, n.d.)

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2.0 REASON OF PROPOSING POST-TENSIONED BEAM
• Pre-tensioning and Post-tensioning can be both achieved by undergoing pre-
stressing process. The significant difference between pre-tensioning and post-
tensioning is priority of casting of concrete.
• Post-tensioning method is preferred over pre-tensioning method due to its ease to
construct and economic constraints.
Post-tensioning:
1. Can be cast and tensioned at project site (cast in-situ)
 The equipment and plant used to perform this method is hand-held and
portable.
2. Indirect contact between pre-stressed elements (steel strands) and concrete
 Steel strands are encased in ducts or sheathing (called tendons).
 Ducts or sheathing acts as a protective layer to the steel strands.
 Moisture penetration to steel strands is lesser.
3. Suitable to be used in heavy load and large span buildings
 It is generally performed at the job site.
 It provides cost-time savings due to faster installation for standard units and
need no time to transfer the prefabricated elements from a plant to job site.
 It can achieve any geometrical shape requirement without using specially
designed casting beds.
 It enables quick assembly of standard units such as bridge, building frames,
bridge decks providing cost-time savings.
4. Effective use of high strength materials
 It gives compressive force to the concrete after casting.
 Hydraulic jacks are used to tension the reinforcing tendons on the sides.
 The tendon is grouted with filling appropriate mixture of cement and
aggregate after stressed.

Pre-tensioning
1. Difficult to perform at site
 It is usually precast in factory and shipped to project site.
 Pre-tensioning equipment and plant are difficult to organize at project site.
 Factory environment is more suitable to perform pre-tensioning.

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2. Direct contact between pre-stressed elements (steel strands) and concrete
 This would prone to steel corrosion.
 Moisture can easily slip through voids in concrete and reach steel tendons.
 Strength of steel tendons will be affected by corrosion.
3. Not suitable used in heavy loads and large span buildings
 Labours need to use transporting equipment to transport all the members from
a plant to a job site.
 Pre-tensioned elements are usually in smaller sizes for ease of transportation.
 It may increase construction cost for extra overhead cranes which are used to
perform lifting and transporting operations of pre-tensioned concrete.

3.0 SEQUENCE OF WORK DURING INSTALLATION

3.1 PLACING OF POST-TENSIONED MATERIAL
3.1.1 Flat Ducts (Beam Tendons)
• Formwork or other fixed reference point along the structure is set out and
marked in accordance to the vertical and horizontal profile.
• Bar chairs and bursting reinforcements are installed.
• Installation of tendon will be carried out as soon as the formwork and bottom
reinforcement for the prestressing area is ready.
• Tendon is fabricated. Support bars are tied with binding wire to the main
reinforcement at intervals of 1.0m (approx.) along the structure and the tendon is
lowered into position.
• Tendon is placed on the cable support and fixed firmly in horizontal and vertical
direction with binding wire so that no displacement during concreting will occur,
but do not fasten so tight would lead to any damage occurs.
• The anchor plate is installed with spiral reinforcement after the tendon is placed.
• Connections and joints are sealed with PVC tape.
• Grout hose or vent is fixed at both live and dead-end anchorage (also sealed with
PVC tape).
• Any damages should be repaired with tape. After complete side and end of
formwork, concrete is poured carefully. Any damage to duct should be avoid
when compacting the concrete.

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 Figure 1.0 Installation of Bar Chairs Figure 2.0 Installation of Tendon

3.2 STRESSING
• Stressing shall not commence unless the concrete in the element to be stressed
has attained minimum cube strength for transfer and age as specified.
• The works shall follow the stressing sequence and procedures.

3.3 STRESSING PROCEDURE

3.3.1 Preparation
• Formwork is removed from the anchorage block-out.
• Any slurry and block-out residue on the casting should be cleared to sit the
anchor block.
3.3.2 Stressing
• Stressing sequence is summarised for site operation. The sequences are as
follow:
1. Identify the tendon mark and location.
2. Apply the initial jacking load (10% - 20 %) to remove slack in tendon.
3. Stress the tendon to the desired force.
4. Record the measured extension.
5. After first stressing was done, concrete strength test was carried out before
proceeding to the next stressing.
6. Repeat Steps 1 – 4 for stressing.
• The force for the jack is supplied from a high-pressure hydraulic pump. At the
beginning of stressing the strands are locked in the pulling head. The pressure of
the manometer and the elongation measured along the jack stroke are recorded on
the stressing report.
• When the jack has reached the end of its stroke or the desired force has been
obtained, the pressure in the jack is released and the strands become locked
uniformly in the anchorage.
• The jack piston returns.
• Stressing is continued in as many cycles as necessary until the desired force is
attained.

Figure 3.0 Stressing of Tendon Figure 4.0 Anchor Plate

3.4 GROUTING
3.4.1 Grouting of Tendons
• Grouting of the tendons shall be done as soon as possible after tensioning.
• The ducts shall be thoroughly cleaned by compressed air.
• The ends of stressed tendons are cut and grout vents are fitted to the ducts at
every high point and at anchorage.
3.4.2 Grouting Sequence
1. Grout starts to inject from the one anchorage end.
2. When regular grout outflow appears at the vents, close vents consecutively in
direction of flow.
3. Grout must flow from the outlet until any residual flushing water or entrapped
air has been removed.
4. When regular grout outflow appears at outlet, stop grouting and close grout hose.
Do not apply unnecessary pressure to the grout since it might cause segregation.
3.4.3 Grouting Record
• Full records of grouting shall be kept.
• Copies of these records shall be given to the Engineer.

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 Figure 5.0 Grouting

4.0 PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

There are certain numbers of equipment applied in post-tensioned concrete beam.
1. Circular saw is used to cut formwork for the installation of soffit and sides of the
formwork at the beginning of construction and before the reinforcements and
tendons are laid in position.
 Safety measure shall be taken while using circular saw as to prevent saw
dust fly into the eyes.
2. Bar cutting machine is used to cut the reinforcement in length per drawings
before installing them on site.
 The bar bending machine is used for forming anchorage bars and stirrup
bars in shape designed.
3. After the tendon anchorage bearing plates are installed at both ends of the beam,
the extra length of tendon is cut using angle grinder.
 The purpose of angle grinder is to pre-cut the strands into the tendon length
type in according to the construction drawing.
4. Robin engine and vibrating poker are used for compacting concrete after casting.

Figure 6.0 Robin engine and vibrating poker

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5. The stressing jack is attached to one or both ends of the tendon and pressurized
to achieve a predetermined value.
 All stressing jacks are characterized by simplicity in operation, reliability, a
high force ratio and low internal friction.
 The jacks are fitted with a self-gripping assembly, a device, which enable an
easy positioning of the jack and rapid stressing in stages.

Figure 7.0 Stressing jack

6. After the designed elongation of the strand has been obtained, the extra length of
the strand should be cut by abrasive disc (grinder).
7. Grouting should be performed as soon as the stressing operation is complete. In
this case grout mixer is used to ensure strand duct is fully grouted.
 The grout mixer is specially designed for the purpose of mixing and
agitating the grout and carrying out the grouting operation in a single unit of
equipment.
 They enable the grout constituents to be metered accurately and an
absolutely homogeneous mixture passes through the pump.
8. When the post-tensioned beam has been completed, the beam will be hoisted put
into position in the building using mobile crane.
 Mobile crane is purposed to life up heavy structure and it is flexible to
access on site compared to another crane.

5.0 NUMBER OF LABOURS REQUIRED

• The construction process of post-tensioning beam requires a medium amount of
labours. Post-tensioning process is done on the construction site.
• From the step of forming a formwork until grouting, it requires more labours to
complete the construction progress compared to that of pre-tensioning method
which only involves a small labour capacity to install the pre-tensioned beam on
site.

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• As the cast in-situ method of post-tensioning, the number of workers is unable to
reduce as they need to cast and install the post-tensioned beam onsite.
1. The first step of forming a formwork requires 4 to 5 semi-skilled workers.
 The workers need to know how to install a formwork by having some
knowledge and skill about it.
 The semi-skilled workers install a formwork in correct position to
ensure a stable formation of formwork and prevent it from being
collapse.
 The installation of formwork is quite heavier as it need to be fixed with
bolt, wedges, props and tie rods.
2. The second step of putting reinforcement bars inside the formwork requires
4 semi-skilled workers.
 The workers need to have some skills and techniques to place the
reinforcement bar in both directions of formwork in order to prevent
deflection.
 The semi-skilled workers would place the reinforcement bar in a correct
position to form top and bottom bars by following the details given in
the drawings.
 Furthermore, the number of reinforcement bar to be installed is larger,
so the amount of labours required is also higher.
3. Next laying and installing casings require 2 skilled workers and 1 general
worker.
 This is because the laying of casing is a complicated work which
involve a lot of specialized skills and techniques.
 Skilled workers would install the casing in a precise location which
decided by the engineers.
 The duty of general worker is to clean the debris of the casing that have
been cut after the construction process.
4. Fourthly, the work of closing formwork and casting requires 6 general
workers as the work load is large.
 The semi-skilled or skilled workers are not required because this
process not involve any special skill and techniques to handle and
install it.

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 5. The work of stressing needs 2 skilled labours.
 The skilled workers would know how to stress the tendon in a well
manner so that it would achieve the designed stress.

6.0 DURATION
• The time requirement for pretension method and post-tension method is different
due to the difference of work sequence of both methods. The time requirement
for post-tensioning method is more than post-tension method.
• Post-tensioned beam construction is done by adding tendons to the concrete
beam on site. (Table 1.0)
1. 1 day required for constructing formwork of post-tensioned beam.
2. 1 day required for installing reinforcement bar into formwork of post-
tensioned beam.
3. 1 day required for installing of tendons and laying post-tensioned tendon
casing.
4. 1 day required for closing formwork and casting concrete of post-
tensioned beam.
5. 3 days required for curing post-tensioned concrete beam to gain at least
25% strength.
6. 1 day required for removing formwork of post-tensioned beam, installing
anchor plate, marking on the tendon and stressing the tendon by using
hydraulic jack.
7. 1 day required for curing post-tension concrete beam to gain 60% strength.
8. 1 day required for cutting the ends of stressed tendons and grouting to fill
in the voids.
• A cycle of post-tensioned beam construction for a whole floor is required 10
days, hence, 5-storey apartment is required 50 days for whole construction for
the post-tensioned beam.

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7.0 CONCLUSION

A 12m x 12m five stories apartment, named as the KL south, is planned to be

constructed in the residential area in Bandar Sungai Long. The element of the building
proposed is the prestressed structure in the building. The component that applies
prestressing is the beam of the building.

Post-tensioning method is chosen to construct the beams in the building. Post-

tensioning method provides a better moisture exclusion than pre-tensioning method.
This is because grouting is done after the stressing process of the tendons and the
voids are fully filled. Hence, post-tensioned beams are suitable to be used for this
building so that the building can last longer and less maintenance needed.

In post-tensioning, tendons are installed after the erection of formwork and placement
of reinforcement bars. Casting is carried out after the tendons are fixed. After the
concrete has attained its minimum required strength, the tendons are stressed by a
stressing jack until the desired force is attained. Lastly, grout mixer is used to fill in
the voids around the tendons by pumping in grout through grout vents.

The labours’ requirement in the construction of post-tensioned beams is generally

semi-skilled and skilled. This is due to the speciality of constructing post-tensioned
beams. Besides, general workers also involved in the construction process for some
light works such as cleaning. Moreover, it takes around 10 days to construct beams
for a floor. For the 5 stories apartment, it takes about 50 days to construct all beams of
the whole building.

In short, a post-tensioned beam is a reinforced concrete beam with additional tendons

which creates stronger tensile force than normal reinforced concrete. The construction
of post-tensioned beams for the whole building can be done in around 50 days. As the
construction process is different from normal, semi-skilled or skilled workers are
required.

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8.0 REFERENCE

Burde, R. 2014. Prestressed concrete. LinkedIn SlideShare. [online] Available at:

https://www.slideshare.net/rajeshbburde/prestressed-concrete-36691505 [Accessed
March 16, 2019].
The Constructor. (2019). Pre-Tensioning and Post-Tensioning in Prestressed
Concrete Design. [online] Available at:
https://theconstructor.org/concrete/prestressed-concrete-pre-and-post-
tensioning/3291/ [Accessed March 18, 2019]

9.0 APPENDICES

Figure 8.0 Photo taken of the group members with the contractor (March 9, 2019)

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