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 CONCRETE Advice
CONCRETE ADVICE No. 03

Straightening and rebending

reinforcement on site
Licensed copy: morgan , Morgan Est, 28/02/2009, Uncontrolled Copy, ®The Concrete Society

Dick Roberts BSc CEng MICE FCS

The requirement to bend or rebend reinforcement partly cast into concrete falls
into two broad categories; planned situations and correcting errors. An example of
a planned situation is where a vertical member is cast and a slab is subsequently
joined to the vertical face. A temporary opening in a slab would be another typical
example. Codes of Practice restrict the rebending of reinforcement on site. This
document reviews the specifications and provides appropriate guidance.

1 Code requirements more detail in the commentary. It states

BS 8110 (1) Section 7, Specification and
workmanship: reinforcement, discusses
cutting and bending reinforcement, and
states that where it is necessary to reshape
previously bent reinforcement this should
only be done with the Engineer’s
approval and each bar should be inspected
for signs of fracture. The same Standard
states that where it is necessary to bend
reinforcement projecting from concrete
this can be done if the reinforcement is a
Grade 250, but that if it is a Grade 460 it
should not be bent, rebent or straightened
without the Engineer’s approval. This
implies that reinforcement protruding
from concrete can be rebent or
straightened, but it does not give any
advice as to how this should be done. In
fact there appears to be little information
on this subject.
The American Code (ACI 318(2)) is similar
to the British Standard but gives a little
that although construction conditions may
make it necessary to bend bars that have
been embedded in concrete, such field
bending should not be done without the
authorisation of the Engineer. The com-
mentary continues by stating that if the
reinforcing bars cannot be bent cold up to
90° at or near the minimum dia-meter
specified, and straightened, the steel can
be heated to a maximum temperature of
1500°F (815°C) to avoid cracking or
breaking of the bars.
2 Approaches for planned
situations
Continuity systems
The preferred solution for planned situ-
ations is to use a properly designed pro-
prietary continuity system for bar sizes up
to 12 mm in Grade 460. These systems
comprise pre-bent reinforcement housed
in a purpose designed carrier case fab-
ricated off-site Such devices are also
 available for size 16 mm although
particular care is needed to avoid
damage on straightening. A properly
designed continuity system will
ensure that sufficient space is
available for fitting a straightening
tool and that the bar is bent at the
Licensed copy: morgan , Morgan Est, 28/02/2009, Uncontrolled Copy, ®The Concrete Society
correct radius as specified in
BS8666(3). A tube slipped over the
bar to provide leverage for bending
is not acceptable practice. Where the
device incorporates a metal pro-
tection system to be cast in, care
needs to be taken to ensure that the
specified cover is maintained both
to the reinforcement and to the
metal protection.
Couplers
An alternative for 12 mm and 16 mm
is the use of a cast-in coupler, which
can be located against the formwork
by using a temporary form fixer.
Couplers should be used for all bars
larger than 16 mm.
Use of Grade 250 reinforcement
An alternative approach for joints
primarily under static stress is to use
8, 10 or 12 mm Grade 250 plain
round bars bent into the vertical face
of the concrete and subsequently
straightened out. This system has
the disadvantage that it is difficult to
locate and rebend the cast-in bars
without damaging the surrounding
concrete or without bending the bars
at too small a radius. Even with a
correct rebending tool it is difficult
to avoid bending the bars where
they emerge from the concrete at a
small radius. Bars should not be
bent out in the direction of the
surface as damage may result. Even
with bending in the direction away
from the specified cover damage
may still occur unless great care is
exercised. It is also very difficult to
achieve a perfectly straight bar in
such a rebending operation.
3 Dealing with errors
The other main area where the need
to bend or rebend occurs is in cor-
recting errors. A typical example is
where a vertical column bar has
been fixed and cast out of its correct
position, thus causing problems
when the next lift of steel fixing or
concreting is to take place. If the
error is such that the specified cover
is encroached and such cover is
important (as it usually is) there is
no alternative but to cut back the
concrete until an acceptable cover is
reached. Apart from maintaining
cover the problem is to get the
reinforcing bar back to or near its
correct position without damaging
the bar or the concrete. The methods
to be considered for bars currently
available to BS 4449(4) are:
• Cold bending or rebending.
Unless the bar is size 12mm or
less, it is virtually impossible to
bend it manually at the correct
radius without damaging the bar
or the concrete. If it is a bent bar
to be rebent the operation is not
only difficult but potentially dan-
gerous as the bar can fracture and
injure the operative. For small
sizes of bar a grooved and
radiused tool should be used (the
radius for 8, 10 and 12 mm, Grade
250 should be at least 16, 20 and
24 mm respectively, and for
Grade 460, 24, 30 and 48 mm
respectively). Suitable power
bending devices for cold bending
larger bars at the correct radius
are not known to exist.
• Hot bending or rebending.
Heating the bar to 800 to 900°C
and bending while hot can signif-
icantly reduce the effort required;
lower temperatures do not give
great enough strength reduction.
However, the operation is difficult
to control, hazardous, and has the
disadvantage that high yield bars
may revert to mild steel. In
addition, above 300°C the
concrete may spall or crack,
leading to severe reductions in
strength. Such limitations and
potential hazards are not normally
acceptable.
• Cutting the bar and welding on
a new bar. If carried out with
great care, this can be an accept-
able solution. However, the
standard of welding commonly
available on site is not of
acceptable quality. With a properly
certified welder and close super-
vision acceptable full strength
welds can be achieved. All bars to
British reinforcement standards
are weldable and recommen-
dations for metal welding are
given in BS 7123(5).
• Partly cutting back the con-
crete, cutting off the bar and
swaging on a new bar. This is an
acceptable solution if the require-
ments on cover and alignment can
be met. A specialist swaging
company and a trained operator
should be employed.
• Cutting back the concrete to a
point where a new bar can be
lapped with the acceptable por-
tion of the cast-in bar. Although
costly, this as an acceptable
solution.
3 Summary
To sum up, therefore, in planned sit-
uations the designer and detailer
should use a proprietary continuity
device, small diameter high yield or
mild steel bars or some form of
mechanical coupling. In unplanned
situations, bars 12 mm in diameter
or less can probably be manually
bent, but care should be taken to
ensure that the bar is bent around the
correct radius; it should never be
kinked or distorted.
Larger diameter bars can be heated
to reduce the effort required to bend
such bars, but high yield bars of the
cold worked variety will probably
revert to mild steel if heated, and it
would be preferable to ensure that
no cold worked high yield bars are
heated. To ensure that the tem-
perature does not go above that
required, temperature indicating
 crayons, or other means such as elec-
tronic thermometers, should be used.
Care should also be taken to ensure that
the concrete itself is not heated. Using
suitable insulation can reduce this, but
even then there is some risk that the heat
may travel along the bar into the concrete.
Licensed copy: morgan , Morgan Est, 28/02/2009, Uncontrolled Copy, ®The Concrete Society

Cutting the bar and swaging on a new bar,

although it sounds simple, may be dif-
ficult due to the position of the bar to be
cut and swaged, the cover of the bar and
the new sleeve, and the room in which the
swaging tool has to work.

FURTHER READING AND ADVICE

References
1. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS 8110, Structural use of concrete, Part 1: Code of practice for design and construction,
BSI, London, 1997.
2. AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE, ACI 318, Building code requirements for reinforced concrete, American Concrete Institute,
Farmington Hills, USA.
3. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS 8666, Scheduling, dimensioning, bending and cutting of steel reinforcement for concrete,
BSI, London, 2000.
4. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS4449, Specification for carbon steel bars for the reinforcement of concrete, BSI, London, 1997.
5. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS 7123, Specification for metal arc welding of steel for concrete reinforcement, BSI, London,
1989.

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Issued: July 2003

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