Your Local Choice for Post-Tension Services in Houston & Dallas, TX

Reinforcing steel (rebar) is used in bridges, buildings, skyscrapers, homes, warehouses, and foundations to increase the strength of a concrete structure. This is because concrete is weak in tension, while steel is strong in tension and compression. Our post-tension services provide the highest quality rebar supply for all commercial and residential concrete construction projects in the Houston & Dallas, TX areas.

Advantages of Steel

•  It can be bent after being manufactured. This simplifies construction and provides for rapid delivery of fabricated materials.

•  It is robust and able to withstand rigors of construction.

• Reinforcing steel is able to be recycled at the end of the structure design life.

• Reinforcing steel does not need to be tied directly to the formwork and does not float in concrete.

In the mid-1800s, builders began including steel in their concrete constructions in order to carry the tension forces. Since then, reinforced concrete has become a very popular building material for many contractors. Why are so many builders using it?

Thermal expansion is similar for concrete and steel, so when reinforced concretes freezes or gets hot, the two materials contract and expand similarly. If they didn’t, the combination would tear itself apart over time.

The bond between reinforcing steel bars (rebar) and concrete is strong and efficient. Rebar has surface deformations that will further improve that bond. Due to the strong bond, concrete effectively transfers stresses to the steel and vice versa.

When cement paste makes contact with steel rebar, it forms a non-reactive surface film that inhibits corrosion. This passivation process helps rebar from corroding inside the reinforced concrete.

The location of the rebar in the structure depends on the use. Simple beams and slabs often only have rebar only on the side. When a continuous beam spans over top of columns, the tension is at the top of the beam, so rebar is needed at the top of the beam over column supports.