Pre-stressed Concrete Panels
More and more often, builders, architects, and concrete contractors are using pre-stressed concrete panels in the erection of agricultural buildings, retaining walls, silage clamps, slurry stores, and industrial buildings. Concrete panels, by their very nature, provide reliable, easy-to-install, durable, weather-resistant, and above all, very strong structural components. Though a fairly recent development, concrete panels, because of their advantages have become increasingly popular in the agricultural and construction industry.
A pre-stressed concrete panel is a formed sheet of moulded concrete, usually 0.5m, 1m, 1.2m or 1.5m in width, and 3m to 7m in length. Strand is pre-stressed through the beds before the concrete is poured. Usual thicknesses are 100mm, 150mm and 180mm.
The primary advantage of erecting a structure using pre-stressed concrete panels is that the panels have undergone a more controlled curing, or drying, process resulting in a stronger, less porous structure. Concrete poured and formed on the construction site by contractors is obviously at the mercy of weather conditions at the time of curing.
For more information please see concrete panels and vertical panels.
