Technical Information

The technical resource pages offer a wide variety of information about the precast/prestressed concrete industry.
Numerous White Papers, Design Manuals, and Case Studies highlight the benefits of precast/prestressed concrete.
Specifications and references will assist designers in gaining a further understanding of precast’s technical requirements.

Brochures

Case Studies

Colorado Prestressers Association

Report on Elimination of Shear Reinforcement in Prestressed Double-tees: “As a continuation of a test program begun in 1975, a static load test was conducted on a full-size topped (composite) 10′-8″ wide 24″ deep double tee spanning 56′-6”. The test specimen was a typical parking garage. The objective of the test was to demonstrate the shear reinforcement in tee stems can be omitted without imparing the structural behavior of the pretensioned member in flexure and shear.

Precast vs. Post-tensioned Lighting Report: “This document is the complete Precast Parking Strucutre Lighting Study which was generated by: The Colorado Prestresser’s Association retained Walker Parking Consultants to perform a study comparing lighting systems for precast concrete parking structures versus post-tensioned concrete parking structures.”

Design Materials

Double Tee Origin

Fact Sheets

PCI Design References

Precast Concrete Color and Texture Guide: Color, form, and texture are critical to the aesthetic appearance of architectural precast concrete. The choice of appropriate aggregates and textures in combination with well-conceived production and erection details can achieve a wide variety of design objectives.
PCI Designers Notebooks :A series of articles focused on precast/prestressed concrete topics, and printed in Ascent, one of the industries publications.
Structural Quality Control Manual 4th Edition: Provides standards for quality control for the manufacture of precast/prestressed concrete products and is a complete guide for the development of an internal manufacturing quality control program. The principles are applicable to precast/prestressed concrete or site-cast concrete.
Architectural Precast Concrete Design Manual 3rd Edition: Information is arranged sequentially to correspond with the steps that an architectural/engineering firm might employ when evaluating, selecting, and incorporating materials into a construction project.
Other publications of interest to a design team include:
- PCI Design Handbook Precast and Prestressed Concrete (MNL-120)
- PCI Manual for Quality Control for Plants and Production of Architectural Precast Concrete Products
  (MNL-117)
- PCI Erector’s Manual Standards and Guidelines for the Erection of Precast Concrete Products (MNL-127)
- PCI Erection Safety for Precast and Prestressed Concrete (MNL-132)
PCI 6th Edition Design Handbook: The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, a non-profit corporation, was founded in 1954 for the purpose of advancing the design, manufacture, and use of structural precast/prestressed concrete and architectural precast concrete in the United States and Canada. The Design Handbook provides a single source of information for the design of both architectural precast concrete and structural precast/prestressed concrete.
Architectural Quality Control Manual : A guideline for quality assurance of architectural precast concrete. Products are custom-designed, and the many combinations of shape, size, color, and texture require a high degree of craftsmanship. It is important to implement and maintain quality control standards to achieve specific performance and aesthetic requirements of a project.

Safe Rooms

Video Resources

Stesscon Sales Promo

https://youtu.be/br49ZVmpoCE

Building It Better

Discusses advances in precast concrete design for seismic regions and demonstrates some of the results generated by the Diaphragm Seismic Design Methodology program.

Precast/Prestressed Concrete Plant Tour

Production of a prestressed double-tee at a PCI-certified facility.

Precast Concrete Storm Resistance

Demonstrates the effectiveness of precast concrete in high storm situations.

PCI/AFRL Blast Test

Discussion and demonstration of the United States Air Force blast test program, which will be used to revise the criteria for blast-resistant construction.

White Papers