Precast concrete material suppliers are responsible for the components that they manufacture from casting until up to 25 years after installation. To effectively manage the production and storage at a the production facility, to streamline the construction process and to quickly repair a component should there be a problem, information about components must be readily available and updated thro...

Devising the most appropriate testing strategy and conceiving a mock-up “as simple as possible, but not simpler” is the challenge which has to be taken whenever a research programme does involve experiments. Optimizing the experimental programme reduces the risk of either wasting time and resources or missing some of the fundamental ingredients of the structural behaviour because of oversimplif...

and findings of laboratory and field tests of a new generation of precast composite piles used for the first time in the construction of the Route 40 highway bridge over the Nottoway River in Virginia. The piles consisted of 24.6 in. (625 mm) diameter concrete-filled glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) circular tubes, with a 0.21 in. (5.3 mm) wall thickness. The composite piles extended above...

In the precast structures, optimization of structural elements is of great interest mainly due to a more rationalized way that elements are produced. There are several elements of precast prestressed concrete that are objects of study in optimization processes, as the prestressed joist applied in buildings slabs. This article inquires into cost minimization of continuous and simply supported sl...