DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF

PRESTRESSED L-SHAPED
BLEACHER SEAT UNITS
John B. Kelly, P.E.
Chief Engineer
Construction Products Corp.
Lafayette, Indiana

Kenneth J. Pike, P.E.

Division Sales Manager
Featherlite Precast Corp.
Lexington, Kentucky

Bleacher seat units, like any other unsymmetrical

section, may develop unexpected stress
concentrations if the design does not consider that
the applied loads are not perpendicular to the
bending planes.
This paper presents a suggested technique for
computing stresses realistically, and for locating the
prestress forces to handle these stresses. It also
describes the manufacture, handling, shipping and
erection of the units.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss
the design, manufacture, shipment, and
erection of precast and prestressed con-
crete L-shaped bleacher units for a
college amphitheater. Fig. 1 shGws the
general plan of one quadrant of the
amphitheater and Fig. 2 shows a typi-
cal secticn through several bleacher
units.
There were two basic shapes of sec-
tions (see Fig. 3). The physical dimen-
sions and service loads were estab-
lished by the architect. The service
loads were:
Vertical = 100 lb per sq ft
Transverse = 10 lb per linear ft
Longitudinal = 24 lb per linear ft
Spans ranged from 6 to 38 ft, with
spans less than 11 ft being precast.
Dead loads varied from 35 to 100 lb
per sq ft and included the dead load
of the unit itself and all superimposed
dead loads such as seats and hung ceil-
ings.
Before the design of the section was
begun much thought was given to the
various possible methods of producing,
handling, and erecting these segments.
Because all of these bleacher units were
required to have a very smooth and
consistent walking surface and many
of them would be exposed to view on
the bottom, it was decided to cast these
un'ts in the inverted position. The units

PCI Journal/September-October 1973ҟ 73

 10 5 10 20 30 40
SCALE I"= 20
Fig. 1. Plan of typical quadrant of amphitheater.
would be stripped from the bed by
using a vacuum lifter, rotated into their
shipping and erected position, and then
stored in that position. Erecting loops
of galvanized aircraft cable were cast
in the end of each piece. This method
would ensure that no lifting or inserts
would have to be burned off and
patched causing undesirable blemishes
in the units.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
The design was based on ACI 318-
71, Building Code Requirements for
Reinforced Concrete. Flexure, shear,
and torsion were investigated. The de-
sign criteria for materials used were as
follows:
f ci = 4500 psi
74
f = 6000 psi
Prestressing steel
1/2 -in. diameter strand with an ulti-
mate strength of 270 ksi.
Mild steel reinforcement: Grade 60
Stresses at transfer
Compression: 0.6 (4500) = 2700 psi
Tension (during rotation):
7.5/4500 = 503 psi
Tension (after rotation):
3/4500 = 301 psi
Stresses after all losses
Compression: 0.45 (6000) = 2700 psi
Tension: 6i/6000 = 465 psi
In designing the sections for flexure,
stresses were checked in the inverted
and upright position considering a 25
percent dead load impact factor and
 Fig. 2. Detail showing units bearing on seat angles at steel bents.

initial prestress. Stresses were also
checked for in-place service loads with
effective prestress. Three critical points
(Points a, b, and c) were selected for
the stress analysis (see Fig. 4).
Design steps
The detailed analysis was done using
the following steps:
1. Calculate the bending moments and
stresses at Points a, h, and c due to
dead load in the manufactured and
erected positions.
2. Compute the bending moments
and the resulting stresses at Points a,
b, and c due to live loads (in-service
position).
3. Determine the stresses at Points
a, b, and c due to prestress forces at
each of the 25 possible strand locations
designated A through Y. The location
of the strand is determined by the

3 3/4"
Fig. 3. Typical cross section of bleacher units.

PCX Journal/September-October 1973ҟ 75


IT Spa. At 2"
Fig. 4. Cross section of bleacher unit showing strand location and points where
stresses are determined.
position of the form relative to the
stressing header blocks. See Fig. 4 for
the locus of strands A through Y.
4. Calculate the range of prestress
required at the critical points (Points a,
b, and c) for each condition of applied
loads. The sum of prestress and applied
stress should not exceed the allowable
stresses. From Item 3, above, select the
strand combination which will meet all
prestress range requirements.
5. By finding the principle axis, check
the ultimate moment criteria.
The calculations for Steps 1, 2, and
4 above are summarized in Table 1.
See Table 2 for a summary of the cal-
culations described in Item 3 above.
It was assumed for purposes of
simplifying the analysis that the bleach-
er unit is able to freely deflect under
service loads and is only supported at
the bent lines. This should be some-
what conservative since in Section A
of Fig. 1 the unit below the one being
analyzed will be somewhat stiffer and
76
rl
should provide some resistance to the
deflection of the analyzed unit under
service loads. In Section B of Fig. 1,
when all the units are the same length
it is improbable that all the units will
be subjected to maximum loads at the
same time. Therefore, some resistance
to the free deflection of the unit being
analyzed will probably be provided
In the longer bleacher units, handling
points for stripping the products from
the form had to be moved in from the
end of the member to approximately
0.2L to control stresses in all positions.
Analysis of shear reinforcement was
conservative in that the worst case was
considered for design of all members.
A 38 ft long Type I unit was selected
and loaded with 100 lb per sq ft live
load. The member was designed as if
only the vertical leg of the section was
carrying the shear load. As can be seen
in the sample problem, only minimum
shear reinforcement was required.
Analysis of torsional reinforcement
Q
W
ro

^o
Table 1. Summary of stresses (psi) in 25-ft span Type I bleacher unit.

Stripping and turning Handling after turning In service

a b c a b c a b c
0 DL(1.25) —704 +518 —298 DL +563 —414 +238 DL+LL+SDL +1248 —918 +528
Trans. LL +ҟ 4 — 8 + 9
ti Longit. LL
CO
w Total applied +1252 —926 +537
— 503 — 503 — 503 — 201 —. 201 — 201 — 465 —465
Allowable +2700 +2700 +2700 —465
Allowable +2700 +2700 +2700 Allowable +2700 +2700 +2700
Prestress + 201 —1021 — 205 Prestress — 764 + 213 — 439 Prestress
Range +3404 —1717 +461 —1002
+2182 +2998 Range +2137 +3414 +2462 Range +1448 +3626 +2163
Prestress pattern
V +307 +134 — 59 +307 +134 — 59 +273 +119 — 53
—290 —290 —258
B -239 +536 +590 +47
+121 +536 +590 +107 77 +525
U x-170 -}-236 —117 +170 +236 —117 +151 -1210 —104
+359 +682 +124 +359 +682 +124 +318 +607 +110

I

Fig. 5. Stress block and orientation of unsymmetric Type I bleacher unit.
was based on those conservative as-
sumptions made in the flexural analysis
and checking the worst possible case,
i.e., maximum span and maximum load.
It can be seen in the same problem
that the torsional stress is less than
1.5V- a criterion given for conven-
tionally reinforced concrete members.
DESIGN EXAMPLE
The following design example is for
a 24 ft long Type I bleacher unit.
However, the shear and torsion in-
vestigation was based on a 38 ft long
Type I bleacher unit.
x ^
Fig. 6. Diagram showing sign conven-
tion for calculating moment.
78
0.85 fc' = 5100 p.s.i.
a/2 C
Id
T
STRESS
Section properties
The section properties of this unit
are:
Y^. = 5.277 in.
Yy = 14.06 in.
I, = 6780.48 in.
I, = 33505.25 in.4
I5 , = —8564.84 in.4
I^y/16, = .1.263
I'Y/IY = 0.256
(I.y)2/I5 = 10818.775 in.4
(I"y)2/Iy = 2189.403 in.4
The following sign convention (see
Fig. 6) was adopted for calculating the
moment:
Any moment causing compression in
a positive quadrant is positive. If M,
causes compression above the x-axis,
where y values are positive, then M,
is positive.
For calculating the stress it was as-
sumed that positive values denote com-
pression while negative values indicate
tension.
Stresses
The general expression for calculat-
ing stress at a point in an unsymmetri-
cal section is:
 Table 2. Summary of stresses (psi) at Points a, b, and c (see Fig. 4) for various
strand locations (A. through Y) in 25-ft span Type I bleacher unit..

Strand a b c
location tbi Ifni it It f* fEn1 tilt tbt* tfni tf{t
A +158 +142 +126 —302 —272 —242 +717 +645 +574
B +134 +121 +107 —249 —224 —199 +656 +590 +525
C +108 + 97 + 86 —196 —176 —157
D + 84 + 76 + 67 + 5 95 +536 +476
—143 —129 —114 + 534 +481 +427
E + 58 + 52 + 46 — 90 — 81 — 72
F + 34 + 31 + 27 + 47 3 +426 +378
— 38 — 34 — 30 +412 +371 +330
+ 15 + 14 + 12 +351 +316 +281
H — 16 — 14 -F 13 + 68 + 61 + 54 +289 +260 +231
1 — 42 — 38 — 34 +121 +109 + 97 +227 +204 +182
J — 66 — 59 — 53 +174 +157 +139 +166 +149 +133
K — 92 - 83 — 74 +227 +204 +182 +105 + 95 + 84
L —116 —104 — 93 +279 +251 +223 + 44 + 40 + 35
M —142 —128 —114 +332 +299 +266 — 17 — 15 — 14
N —166 —149 —133 +335 +347 +308 — 78 — 70 — 62
O —192 —173 —154 +433 +394 +350 —139 —125 —111
P —216 —194 —173 +491 +442 +393 —200 —180 —160
Q —241 —217 —193 +543 +489 +434 —261 —235 —209
R —266 —239 —213 +596 +536 +477 —322 —290 —258
S —114 —103 — 91 +485 +437 +388 —258 —232 —206
T + 37 + 33 + 30 +373 +336 +298 —194 —175 —155
U +189 +170 +151 +262 +236 +210 —130 —117 —104
V. +341 +307 +273 +149 +134 +119 — 66 — 59 — 53
W +493 +444 +394 + 38 + 34 + 30 —ҟ 1 —ҟ 1 —ҟ 1
X +644 +580 +515 — 74 — 67 — 59 + 62 + 56 + 50
Y {-797 +717 +638 —185 —167 —148 +127 +114 +102
* Stress calculated using Eq. (1) before losses.
j- Stress after initial losses (about 10 percent).
t Stress after final losses (about 21 percent).

f= A+ was calculated for each of the possible

strand locations (see Table 2). More
discussion of the stress calculations is
Ixv given under "Design Considerations."
Mx—Ms(Iv For production convenience, strand
y+
I (I^v) 2 patterns were selected that would be
suitable for a wide range of span
a,— Iv
lengths. When the span lengths were
increased to a point that a new pat-
tern had to be devised, every effort
M." — M. i jam) x
was made to arrive at one that would
(1) match up with an existing pattern,
I y_
— (I with the unneeded strands being blan-
Ix
keted. For spans over 30 ft, it was
The stresses are then checked at necessary that bond be broken to pre-
Points a, b, and c (see Fig.. 4) due to vent overstress in the end regions.
dead load in the manufactured condi-
tion, and dead load plus all live loads Strength
in the final, or erected position. These The ultimate moment capacity was
stresses are summarized in Table 1. checked. For this particular example it
The effect of the prestressing strands was found that the section had an ulti-

PCI Journal/September-October 1973ҟ 79

mate moment capacity equal to 978
in.-kips. This was greater than the load
factored moment of:
1.4 D + 1.7 L = 737 in.-kips
and also greater than 1.2 times the
cracking moment.
Camber
Camber was investigated. The sec-
tion under dead load and prestress in
the final position was calculated to
have a sweep of 0.02 in. and a camber
100 psf x 2.83 = 283 lb/ft.
4in
Fig. 8. Loadings for torsion analysis.
80
of 0.02 in. After the member was cast,
a careful physical measurement of the
camber verified these calculations by
yielding "zero" readings. This was es-
pecially important because "zero" cam-
ber and sweep were considered a nec-
essary architectural feature.
Shear reinforcement
The design was checked for vertical
shear reinforcement.
The maximum end reaction occurs
in a 38 ft span Type I bleacher unit.
nominal
■-- 5 1/2 in
CG
5.28 In
r
 2
Vu = 1.4 (2.75 x 100) + Horizontal leg 42 X 34 = 544 in.3
1.7 (2.75 x 100) Vertical leg 5.52 X 19.3 = 584 in.3
= 16,198 lb 1128 in ,3
By Section 11 -16 of ACI 318-71:
It was decided . to use deformed wire _ 3(27,288)
fabric for shear reinforcement. The bars V t" 0.85(1128)
are spaced on 3-in. centers. = 85 psi
If we assumed that the vertical leg By Section 11.7.1 of ACI 318-71:
only takes the shear:
1.5/6000 = 116 psi
_ 16,198 This stress is greater than 85 psi,
Vu — 0.85 (5%) (15.45) Therefore, effects of torsion may be
= 224 psi neglected.
Using the PCI Design Handbook, The above analysis was done assum-
this 'end shear is less than 250 psi. ing the section was nonprestressed.
Therefore; only a minimum A„ is re- Thus, the application of prestressing
quired for shear reinforcement. would make . the torsion analysis even
From page 5-51 of the PCI Design more conservative.
Handbook:
BD = 5.5 (15.45)
FABRICATION
= 84.98 sq in.
Ap , f3,,, — 8 (0.153) (270) As was mentioned earlier, the design
f^ҟ60 had to account for stresses resulting
= 5.51 from the manufacturing techniques that
Use A„ = 0.05 sq in. every 3 in: were devised to provide the specified
Use D 5/6 deformed wire fabric as appearance. As bridge beam and dou=
ble tee producers we were rarely con-
shown in Fig. 7.
cerned with turning over a prestressed
concrete product that had to be manu-
Torsion factured upside down, or with locating
Torsion was investigated for the lifting devices so as to minimize the
longest span (38 ft) used on the project. necessity of job site patching.
The torsion-producing load was ap- The first problem, stripping without
plied as shown in. Fig. 8. Since the using loops or inserts, was solved easily.
front edge of the walking surface is A two-pad vacuum lifter (see Fig. 9)
always supported by the adjacent unit, removed the products efficiently and
it was assumed that loads imposed in economically.
this region would be delivered to the Next came a tougher problem, i.e.,
supporting unit and so would not in- how to turn precast and prestressed
duce torsion. The calculations are as beams (that vary from 6 to 38 ft in
follows: length) through 180 deg 'and be con-
.fident of not damaging them. Many
M = 283 (17 — 14.06) + 10 (5.28-4)
ideas involving vacuum lifters, motors,
= 844.8 in.-lb per ft belts, pulleys, sand beds, and compli-

M
cated machines were advanced, but all
T,, = 1.7 (844.8) were discarded as being expensive,
= 27,288 in.-lb slow or uncontrollable. The method de-
veloped consisted of using two two-part
Summation of x2y: wheels that are clamped on the prod-

PCI Journal/September-October 1973ҟ 81

 uct. The entire assembly was then
rolled over, with the beam acting as
an axle.
Fig. 9 shows the vacuum lifter hold-
ing the product as it is being lifted
from the form. The Travelift then car-
ries the lifter and product to the site
of the roll-over process and sets the
product (see Fig. 10) into the lower
halves of the wheels. The upper halves
Fig. 9. Two-pad vacuum lifter remov-
of the wheels are clamped in place and
ing units. the vacuum lifter is released to return
to the bed to strip the next piece.
In Fig. 11 the beam wheel assembly
is rolled 180 degrees. In this case the
wheels were located at the ends of
the product, but the longer pieces re-
quired that the wheels be located at
the one-fifth points to reduce bending
stresses. The rolling was done with
relative ease and the assembly was
balanced throughout the turn. This was
assured by locating the centroid of the
Fig. 10. Unit being placed into roll-over product at the radius center of the
assembly. wheel. With the product upright a
second Travelift (see Fig. 12) hooked
into the lifting loops, the wheel was
unclamped and the product was car-
ried to the storage area and stacked on
bearings.
Concealed pick up points were pro-
vided by flexible lifting loops. The lift-
ing loops were made of galvanized air-
craft cable and were used for all sub-
sequent handling and for erecting. Fig.
13 shows end details before concrete is
Fig. 11. Beam-wheel assembly being
placed. The lifting loops are tied to
rolled. the shear steel and exit over the header
at what will be the bottom of the
product. Note the header arrangement
for making a skewed end. The lifting
loops were concealed by a caulked
joint when erected.
Fig. 14 shows the placing operation.
Concrete was delivered by ready-mix
trucks and compacted with internal vi-
brators. The uniformed surface was
given a troweled finish and then steam
Fig. 12. Unit being lifted with second curing was applied.
lifter prior to being stored. The form was 220 ft long and pro-

82
 duced am average of nine pieces per
day. The stripping operation took 11/a
hours and the entire daily process took
from 8 to 10 hours. The project had a
total of 17,200 lineal ft of product
(740 pieces) and was completed in 80
production days. There were over 250
different mark numbers required for the
job, so repetition was not common.
Careful attention to dimensional and
tolerance requirements resulted in a
nearly flawless job. Only two pieces Fig. 13. Reinforcement details prior to
had to be remade and both resulted, concreting.
from shipping or handling damage. A
few inserts had to be corrected in the
field, but this only took one man-day
for the whole job. Credit for this per-
formance belongs to the detailers, the
bed leadman, and the quality control
technicians.

SHIPPING
Fig. 15 shows products being loaded Fig. 14. Concreting operation.
for truck delivery. Timber bearings
were made to allow the products to
nest together without touching. In Fig.
16 we see a complete load tied down
and ready for shipment. Note the lift-
ing loops in the ends of the products.
Delivery was made at a rate of four
truck loads per day carrying a maxi-
mum weight of 42,000 lb of product.
Loading time was 30 to 45 minutes
per load. Drivers commented that the
method of stacking made a very stable Fig. 15. Units being loaded for truck
load. delivery.

ERECTION

Erecting proceeded without any ma-

jor difficulty. The erecting subcon-
tractor would unload and erect four
truck loads (24 to 28 pieces) in 3 to 4
hours, with welding and removal of
lifting loops being done concurrently.
The job site was limited on storage
space so erecting was generally done Fig. 16. Stacked units ready for ship-
directly from the delivery truck. ment.

PCI Journal/September-October 1973 83


CONCLUSION
At the time of the design of this
project the authors were unaware of
any literature that dealt with the de-
sign of L-shaped bleacher units. Also,
they did not have access to a com-
puter but relied on the accuracy of a
desk calculator. Thus, it is possible
that other more sophisticated methods
of analysis might be available today..
However, it should be mentioned
that since the amphitheater was con-
structed, the bleacher units have shown
no cracking or any other distress. Also,
the camber and deflection were as pre-
dicted in the calculations.

Discussion of this paper is invited.

Please forward your discussion to PCI Headquarters
by February 1, 1974, to permit publication in the
March April 1974 PCI JOURNAL.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
More complete details of the Numerical Example
are available from PCI Headquarters at cost of
reproduction and handling at time of request.

84