Figure 1. The reinforcement cage prior to placement of concrete.

The design was fabricated using bars from the bending schedule for the main works. This was done to ensure that the bars tested were drawn at random from the general supply of bars for the whole works, and had to be found and removed from the store of coated bars by the steel fixers in the normal way. This approach ensured that the bars tested were from the manufacturer’s normal production run and not prepared specifically for the trial.