Concrete reinforced by either pretensioning or posttensioning, allowing it to carry a greater load or span a greater distance than ordinary reinforced concrete .
In pretensioning, lengths of steel wire or cables are laid in the empty mold and stretched. The concrete is placed and allowed to set, and the cables are released, placing the concrete into compression as the steel shrinks back to its original length. In posttensioning, the steel in the concrete is stretched after the curing process. Prestressing places a concrete member in compression; these compressive stresses counteract the tensile bending stresses of an applied load. The process was developed by the French engineer Eugène Fressinet in the early 20th century.