Abstract
Current engineering practice in determining sectional dimensions of prestressed concrete (PSC) girders for bridges is primarily based on the code-specified allowable concrete stresses at different loading stages. It is customary that tendons and sectional dimensions are calibrated and tendon forces are applied at once at the initial stage to keep the subsequent stresses occurring at different loading stages within the allowable stresses. This traditional tensioning method, however, usually results in a too conservative sectional depth in view of ultimate capacity of a girder. A new design method which can realize the reduction of sectional depth of PSC girders is theoretically suggested in this study. Tendons are tensioned twice at different loading stages: the initial stage and the stage after fresh slab concrete is cast. It can be shown that according to this technique, sectional depth can be significantly reduced and larger span can be realized compared to traditional ones. Parametric studies are performed with due considerations given to its practical applications.
