How Prestressing Works! (Structures 6-4)

What if we could plan ahead for expected loads on a structure? Well we can with prestressing! Using tension to “precompress” a beam or a slab allows us to span further or have shallower structures…we just have to understand how it works and how to shape the prestressing forces to our advantage. Enjoy! I'm Paul Kassabian. I'm a structural engineer and a Principal at SGH in Boston, MA. I taught graduate students at MIT for nine years and currently teach on/off at Harvard's Graduate School of Design (GSD). These are videos based on my years of teaching structures to students.