<<"It appears that Reo rods (reinforcing rods in concrete are often twisted to gain greater structural strength and to further stiffen the bar so as to give the concrete greater strength. Tony">> Danged Tony! engineers do so many funny things with rebar (your Reo rods) that it would not surprise me to find out they have tried twisting them! :-) Usually rebar is used in making prestressed columns/beams/spans thru the use of catenary or elliptical curvature of the rebar before the concrete is poured around it, be it free form or formed. Some applications of the prestressed concrete form uses 'stressed' stranded wire where the wire is put under some rather extreme forces before the concrete is poured. But like you say 'we heard it somewhere so it must be gospel'. :-) Jim Bryant (FL) Hope your walkabout went smoothly!
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