Conflicting information on longest beam span
Hi! I have been seeing conflicting information on the longest type of structural beam span in different study sources.
One source points that the DLH beam has the deepest span of up to 144 feet.
Another source says that the single tee beam is deeper, with a span up to 150 feet, although this conflicts with what I had originally learned (that it could only span 120 feet max.)
Can someone please assist with this?
Thank you!
-
Hi Stella,
It depends on what you mean by "structural beam" - DLH beams are a composite truss beam, and the load tables actually go up to 240 ft as of 2010. The 1983 load tables end with 144ft. DLH beams are the longest-span standard steel "beam" commercially available. https://vulcraft.com/catalogs/JoistGirder/Load_Tables_ASD_DLH-Series.pdf
Precast single Tees are very rarely used now, the Prestressed Concrete Institute took them out of their Design Handbook with the 1992 edition. The 1985 edition did list 120' as their longest span. That said, Bulb-T beams are still made for mostly bridges and other larger-scale civil engineering works, they're manufactured with spans out to 185' - but are not true single-T beams in the way you're describing.
Personally, unless the question were asking about some outdoor application or very heavy load application, I'd assume the DLH beam is going to be the longer span.
Best,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
2 comments