Abstract: A large number of existing reinforced concrete structures, such as buildings and bridges, if subjected to abnormal loads, such as those expected during earthquakes or bomb blast, may experience significant inelasticity in their critical regions. It is economically not feasible to replace the entire existing infrastructure with new and improved structures; retrofitting provides the only solution to the problem of seismically and otherwise structurally deficient existing structures. A new retrofitting process has been developed to improve strength and deformability of existing reinforced concrete columns. The process involves determining column critical regions, identifying critical stresses that may lead to brittle shear and/or compression failures, determining external prestressing to overcome some of these stresses and to provide lateral confining pressure to improve the ductility of compression concrete.