ABSTRACT
Masonry is very strong in compression, but relatively very weak in tension. This restricts its use in elements which are subjected to significant tensile stress. This limitation can be overcome by reinforcing or prestressing. Prestressing of masonry is achieved by applying precompression to counteract, to a desired degree, the tension that would develop under service loading. As a result, prestressing offers several advantages over reinforced masonry, such as the following.
