The four ages of early prestressed concrete structures

Abstract

Unlike that of reinforced concrete, the history of prestressed concrete has been insufficiently studied. Little progress has been made since the first classical texts appeared in England, the United States, and Germany soon after the Second World War, and after the publicaiton of the classical biography of Fressinet following Spain's return to democracy. Some evidence of this gap is that some well reputed textbooks on prestressed concrete, as well as recent and updated papers, still repeat the old erroneous chronologies. However, in recent decades some researchers have been making interesting and noteworthy advances in the history of prestressed concrete. Some of these advances are discussed here, along with new data from the study of early patents on prestressed structures, and these resources are looked at from a new historical perspective: the four ages of prestressed concrete structures. Beyond application to concrete structures, this "four ages" perspective can also be useful for studying the history of prestressed structures made of other materials.