During prestressing operation at one end, frictional losses will occur and the prestressing
force decreases along the length of tendon until reaching the other end. These frictional
losses include the friction induced due to a change of curvature of tendon duct and also the
wobble effect due to deviation of duct alignment from the centerline. Therefore, the
prestress force in the mid-span or at the other end will be greatly reduced in case the
frictional loss is high. Consequently, prestressing, from both ends for a single span i.e.
prestressing one-half of total tendons at one end and the remaining half at the other end is
carried out to enable a even distribution and to provide symmetry of prestress force along
the structure.
In fact, stressing at one end only has the potential advantage of lower cost when compared
with stressing from both ends. For multiple spans (e.g. two spans) with unequal span length,
jacking is usually carried out at the end of the longer span so as to provide a higher
prestress force at the location of maximum positive moment. On the contrary, jacking from
the end of the shorter span would be conducted if the negative moment at the intermediate
support controls the prestress force. However, if the total span length is sufficiently long,
jacking from both ends should be considered.
