Prestressed brickwork

Brickwork has been around for some 4,000 years and its durability, strength and other good qualities are well known. It is a useful structural material — but limited to applications where there is relatively high compressive vertical loading and relatively low horizontal loading. (A brick wall can carry a high vertical load but it can be pushed over relatively easily.) This is because brickwork, like concrete, is weak in tension. Its tensile strength in bending is less than five per cent of its compressive strength. Again, like concrete, it can either be reinforced with steel to carry the tensile stress or prestressed to eliminate the tension.