Bursting and Spalling in Pretensioned U-Beams - Ferguson ...

Transverse reinforcement in the webs of U-beams has been standardized alongwith the other section details (TxDOT, 2006). One #4 vertical bar is provided in eachweb at 4 in. spacing in the end region (end 6 ft. of the beam). Further into the beam, barspacing may be increased, as shear considerations allow.Within the end block, the transverse web-reinforcement is continued at closespacing. Additional transverse reinforcement is also provided near the center of the endblock—within the projected area of the interior void (Figure 2.53). This reinforcementwithin the void projection consists of skin reinforcement at their outer (10 – #4) and innerfaces (6 – #4) of the end block, with a middle layer of reinforcement (10 – #4) betweenthe inside and outside faces, approximately 9 in. into the beam.transversereinforcementwithin voidprojection(V or F bars)transversereinforcementwithin webprojection(R bars)Figure 2.53 Additional transverse reinforcement near center of end blockThe outer and middle layers of transverse reinforcement within the voidprojection lie within a distance h/4 from the beam end, so could be counted toward theAASHTO LRFD “splitting” reinforcement requirement (Section 2.6.1). Barrios (1994)treated the end-block reinforcement in this manner. The question of whether this87