A common steel bar, and is commonly used as a tensioning device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures holding the concrete in compression. Deformed bar is usually formed from carbon steel, and is given ridges for better mechanical anchoring reinforced concrete.
Steel construction has so many advantages: the strength to weight ratio is excellent, metals join easily, efficient shapes are available, etc. With those advantages, though, come some challenges that are best solved by a good understanding of how the metals actually perform in a structure.