Rolled Beam & Plate Girder

Plate Girder and Rolled Beams are Common Superstructures for Short Span Bridges

Rolled Beam Steel Bridge Girders

Rolled beam girders from the Jesup South Iowa Bridge Project

Plate girder and rolled beam (also known as wide flange shapes) are common superstructure elements for short span steel bridges.

  • rolled steel girder is a girder that has been fabricated by rolling a blank cylinder of steel through a series of dies to create the desired shape. These create standardized wide flange beam shapes up to 120 feet in length.
  • plate girder is a girder that has been fabricated by welding plates together to create the desired shape. The fabricator receives large plates of steel in the desired thickness, then cuts the flanges and web from the plate in the desired length and shape. Plate girders can have a greater height than rolled beam girders and are not limited to standardized shapes.  Plate girders can span up to 300+ feet in length.

If you are looking for a rolled beam or plate girder bridge supplier, please see Find-a-Supplier for a complete company directory.

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