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Applications of DT Wall

Double tee or double-T beams are pre-manufactured precast concrete structures that resemble two T-beams connected side by side. They are commonly used in roofing structures of non-residential buildings like warehouses and indoor pools, with spans of up to 60 feet. Double tees are also widely used in modern parking structures, where they are hung from supporting structures and create durable floor surfaces. Additionally, double tee structures are an alternative for short to medium bridge spans between 40 to 90 feet, helping to reduce construction times for bridge replacements.

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110 views2 pages

Applications of DT Wall

Double tee or double-T beams are pre-manufactured precast concrete structures that resemble two T-beams connected side by side. They are commonly used in roofing structures of non-residential buildings like warehouses and indoor pools, with spans of up to 60 feet. Double tees are also widely used in modern parking structures, where they are hung from supporting structures and create durable floor surfaces. Additionally, double tee structures are an alternative for short to medium bridge spans between 40 to 90 feet, helping to reduce construction times for bridge replacements.

Uploaded by

kamakshi
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Applications of DT Wall

A double tee or double-T beam is a load-bearing structure that resembles two T-beams connected


to each other side by side. The strong bond of the flange (horizontal section) and the two webs
(vertical members, also known as stems) creates a structure that is capable of withstanding high
loads while having a long span. The typical sizes of double tees are up to 15 feet (4.6 m) for flange
width, up to 5 feet (1.5 m) for web depth, and up to 80 feet (24 m) or more for span length. Double
tees are pre-manufactured from prestressed concrete which allows construction time to be
shortened.[1]

Roofing[edit]

Double-tee roof structure of an indoor swimming pool

In non-residential buildings, the roof structure may be flat. Structural concrete is an alternative for flat
roof construction. There are three main categories for such method: precast/prestressed, cast-in-
place and shell. Within the precast/prestressed concrete roofing, the double tees are the most
common products used for roof span up to 60 feet (18 m).[3]

Parking structures[edit]

Precast parking structure showing an interior column which supports two girders, left and right. Double-tee
beams hang onto the girders.

Modern multi-story parking structures are built from precast/prestressed concrete systems. The floor


systems are mostly built from pre-topped double tees. This system evolved from the earlier use of
tee systems where the flanges of the T-beams were connected. The concrete is then poured at the
top of the tees during the construction to create the floor surface, hence the process is called field-
placed concrete topping. In double-tee structures, the top concrete is usually made at the factory as
an integral part of the precast double tee structure. Double tees are connected during the
construction without topping with concrete to create the parking structure floor surface.[4]
A benefit of pre-topped double tees is a higher quality concrete for more durable surface to reduce
traffic wears. Factories can produce the topping with minimum concrete strength of 5,000 psi. In
some areas, the strength can be 6,000-8,000 psi. This compares to the field-placed concrete topping
with the lower concrete strength of 4,000 psi.[4]
Typically, the double-tees are hung over a supporting structure. This is done by having dapped ends
at the webs of the double tee (pictured). The dapped ends are sensitive to cracking at the supporting
area. A recommendation to prevent cracking is to include reinforcing steel in the double-tee design
to transfer the loads from the bearing area (the reduced-depth section) to the full-depth section of
the web.[4] In case that the cracks are developed after the parking structure is already in use, other
methods to provide external support to the double-tees are needed. One of such alternatives is to
use externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) to provide reinforcement.[5]

Bridges[edit]
Prefabricated bridge designs have been used in many bridge constructions to reduce the
construction time. In the United States, there are efforts to come up with Prefabricated Bridge
Elements and Systems in many states. Double tee structure is an alternative for short to medium
spans between 40 and 90 feet (12 and 27 m). There are many standards such as double-tee beam
of Texas Department of Transportation and the Northeast Extreme Tee (NEXT) beam of
the Northeast.[6]
A benefit of using double tees for bridge replacements is to shorten the construction time. Texas has
a goal of shortening short-span bridge replacements to one month or less instead of 6 months in
traditional bridge constructions.[7]
Concerns of using double tees in bridge constructions include bridge deck longitudinal cracks. As
the connection points between the double tee beams are longitudinally along the traffic flow, any
lateral movements of double tees can cause the road surface to crack longitudinally. These
include differential rotation of double-tee flanges that can cause asphalt surface to raise or crack. A
separation of the flanges can cause asphalt to sag into the gap forming a reflective crack. To reduce
these problems, many methods have been developed to manage the lateral connections of the
double tees. The materials used in the connections are backer rods, steel bars, welded plates,
and grouts.[8]

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