Precast Concrete Construction

What is Precast Concrete?

Precast concrete is an alternative to cast-in-situ concrete. While cast-in-situ concrete

is cast in its actual location, precast concrete is cast at another location, either at the
building site or in a factory, and is then lifted to its final resting place and fixed
securely. This means that unlike cast-in-situ construction, which is monolithic or
continuous, precast concrete buildings are made of separate pieces that are bolted or
connected together.

Precast concrete structural elements

A precast building is constructed by assembling.

and connecting various prefabricated elements
required in the building structure.
These elements are: 

 Precast slabs
 Precast beams 
 Precast columns
 Precast walls 
 Precast foundation
Categories of precast building system

Depending on the load-bearing structure, precast systems can be divided into the following
categories:

 Large-panel systems
 Frame systems
 Slab-column systems with walls
 Mixed system

CONNECTING PRECAST CONCRETE ELEMENTS:

Precast concrete components can be connected in a number of ways:

 They can be bolted together. In order to do this, steel connectors are embedded in the
concrete at the time of casting. This must be done with great precision.
 They can be grouted or concreted together. In this method, loops of steel
reinforcement are left protruding out of the precast concrete members. Two members
are placed in position, and reinforcement is threaded between the loops. Fresh
concrete is then poured around this reinforcement, in a space left for this purpose.