Top Reinforcing in a grade beam on piles - residential

[hairman]

Do I need reinforcing in the top of a continuous grade beam where the moment is negative at the piles for a grade beam with a linear loading rate of 3000 lbs/lf?

 

[SlideRuleEra]

IMHO, any concrete supported by piling needs reinforcing steel, top & bottom.
1. Piling would not be used unless the loads were significant or the soils were "terrible", or both.
2. The cost of the installed rebar is trivial compared to the cost of installed piling.
3. Negative moments and plain concrete are a bad combination.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

 

[dik]

Typically use 2-15M T&B cont. min and sometimes an extra 15M top at supports (actually designed) Top rfg may be more important than bot rfg.

Dik