How do i determine if T-beam is prestressed?

[FLOrida]

I always thought you would be able to see tension rods from the ends of the beam if it is prestressed, but i was told by a contractor that is now always the case.

There is an overhanging T-beam that we want to cut but someone pointed out it may be prestressed and not a good idea. I suppose the question is two-fold:
1 - how is this prestressed without a visible rod at the ends? The beams look precast, so i do not think there would be multiple pours to simply hide the rod
2 - if it could be prestressed without the rods at the end, how would i determine whether or not it is?

thank you in advanced

 

[NJHHEngineer P.E.]

I always thought you would be able to see tension rods from the ends of the beam if it is prestressed, but i was told by a contractor that is now always the case.

There is an overhanging T-beam that we want to cut but someone pointed out it may be prestressed and not a good idea. I suppose the question is two-fold:
1 - how is this prestressed without a visible rod at the ends? The beams look precast, so i do not think there would be multiple pours to simply hide the rod
2 - if it could be prestressed without the rods at the end, how would i determine whether or not it is?

thank you in advanced

Is this an existing structure? Or new construction?

My personal opinion, if it is an existing structure (ie, the cutting is a demolition operation), try to see if you can get asbuilt drawings from the time it was built. It may say explicitly that the beam is prestressed.

If it's new construction, ask the contractor that purchased/installed them. I would hope they'd know. Worst case, find out where the beam came from and ask the manufacturer...

Just my 2 cents. I wouldn't want to just take a guess...

 

[piscescon]

Can you show us some pictures? I think normally a prestressed T-beam doesn’t look like a T. But parking structures have exactly T-shape prestressed T-beams as flooring members.