While prestressed concrete is a relatively new product -- the first use of prestressed concrete in the United States was in a bridge, built in the early 1950s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- today, about a third of all bridges built use prestressed concrete beams.

Inherently safe

Prestressed concrete has many things going for it: no fatigue-prone details; built-in redundancy; no special design; overloads and excess capacity; better deck durability because of reduced deflections; better substructure stability from increased dead-loads.

Excellent riding characteristics

The public will not only be safe, but also feel secure and comfortable on a bridge that can hold traffic vibrations to a minimum.

Efficient material usage
Prestressed concrete is engineered high technology at its best.
It is carefully designed using a variety of materials, each selected only for the benefits it brings to get the job done.

• High strength steel prestressing strands to provide load bearing capabilities as needed.
• Concrete to give permanence and strength and good riding characteristics.
• Reinforcing bars to further improve the long-term quality of the concrete.

Impacts local economy directly

Prestressed concrete is produced by local small business -- employing local labor.

Most of its raw materials are also locally purchased and the health of the local prestressed concrete industry directly impacts further on the local economy.