The influence of transverse prestress on the strength of prestressed concrete bridge slabs

The paper describes the results of tests on eight square prestressed concrete slabs having unbonded wires. The ratio of transverse prestress to longitudinal prestress (γ_i,) was varied hetween 0 and 100%. A system of wheel loads based on AASHO specifications was used and it was found that, for the upper range of values of γ_i ultimate loads were considerably in excess of those predicted by the use of yield-line theory. It is suggested that at least part of this increased load capacity could be utilized if a suitable design criterion were adopted.