Shear tests on continuous prestressed concrete beams with external prestressing

According to current design codes, many existing road bridges exhibit shear capacity deficits. This is partly due to increased traffic loads and partly due to changes in the code provisions. In order to extend the service lives of these bridges, either refined design approaches may be used or strengthening measures performed. This paper describes the results of experimental investigations into how additional external prestressing influences the shear capacity of continuous prestressed concrete beams. Within the research project, six shear tests were performed on three test beams with parabolic internal post-tensioning and additional, variable external prestressing. The aim of the project was to determine the effect of external prestressing on the shear capacity of existing bridges, and whether current design approaches lead to conservative results when used for recalculating existing bridge structures.