About Us
Our Story
Two highly qualified Civil Engineers with more than 20 years of experience in GCC countries and Iraq have decided to establish a company specialized in Concrete Pre-stressing, in particular, Post-Tension works. Namely, Dr. Kameran Kakel and Eng. Luay Adnan.
Dr. Kamaran designed and supervised more than 20 projects in UAE during the period from 2008 to 2010. When he returned back to Iraq, post-tension works was rarely used in Iraq. However, with continuous education of Dr. Kameran to local contractors, they have realized the importance of using Post-Tension method to reduce the cost.
Up to 2021, more than seven projects are under construction. The specialized technicians were mobilized from the same teams worked under the partner supervision in UAE.
It is believed that POSTECH is the first 100% Iraqi company working in this field.
What is a Post-Tension
Concrete has a high compressive strength, but has low tensile strength. Traditional reinforcement is often used to give concrete more ductility because the steel resists the tensile forces in the element. In post-tensioned structures high-strength steel is used, which is tensioned against the concrete. This puts the concrete into compression, utilizing more of the inherent strength and enabling thinner concrete sections to be used.
This system is widely used in multi-story buildings, High rise buildings, bridges, and strengthen existing constructions. Nowadays this system is being widely used in construction field in developing countries such as middle east countries (UAE, Quarter, Oman, Saudi Arabia). For example, in the United Arab Emirates, more than 95 % of the building structures are executed by using the post-tensioning system.
Why Post-Tension
- Significant reduction in the amount of concrete and reinforcing steel required.
- Thinner structural members as compared to non-prestressed concrete, resulting in lower overall building heights and reduced foundation loads.
- Aesthetically pleasing structures that harness the benefits of cast-in-place structures with curved geometries, longer cantilevers and slender members with large spaces between supports.
- Superior structural integrity as compared to precast concrete construction because of continuous framing and tendon continuity.
- Monolithic connections between slabs, beams, and columns that can eliminate troublesome joints between elements that require maintenance.
- Profiled tendons that result in balanced gravity loads (typically a portion of dead load only), significantly reducing total deflection.
- Better crack control, which results from permanent compressive forces applied to the structure during prestressing. Reduction in overall building mass, which is important in zones of high seismicity.
- As compared to steel, non-prestressed concrete and precast construction offer faster floor construction cycles, lower floor weight, lower floor-to-floor height, larger spans between columns and reduced foundations.
- The high early-strength of post-tensioned concrete allows for faster floor construction cycles and the use of standard design details for post-tensioned elements, minimum congestion of prestressed and non-prestressed reinforcement, and earlier stripping of formwork after tendon stressing.