SteelConstructionRulesofThumb

Floors(BeamsandGirders)
Tocalculatethenecessarydepthofabeam,dividethespan(ininches)by20.Forexample,a25span
wouldbe25x12/20=15.Thewidthofthisbeamwouldbebetween1/3andthedepth.The
dimensionsofagirderwouldbethesame,buttheflangewouldbethicker.
Abeamoverhangcanbeamaximumof3/8ofthesupportedspan.
Floors(DeckingandJoists)
Metaldeckingwithshearstuds,2deepspans10,3spans15inthedirectionofthedeckingribs.In
additiontothedeckingdepth,aconcretefloorof23mustbepouredontopofthefloor.Besureto
properlydrawthecorrugationofthedecking,asitsproperdimensionsassureitsrigidity.
LightGaugesteeljoistsortrusses6deepspan10.Foreachadditional2ofdepth,add2ofspanupto
12deep.After12ofdepth,everyadditional3ofdepthadd2ofspan.
Roofsmustslope/footforproperdrainage
Columns
Acolumnsizedependsonthefloorareaitissupporting;thisfloorareaiscalculatedbysubdividingthe
distancebetweenthecolumnandalladjacentcolumns.Thisareaiscumulativefromfloortofloor.
A6x6columncansupport750sq.ft;a8x8columncansupport3000sq.ft,anda12x12column6000
sq.ft.eachadditional2canadd1500sq.ft.ofsupportedarea.
Example:atwostorybuildingmadeupof425x25bays.Thecolumnatthecenteroftheplansupports
anarea25x25x2stories=1250sq.ft.soan8x8columnwouldbelargeenough.
GeneralNote
Usingeachofthemethodsabovewillmostlikelygeneratesteelelementsizesthatdonotcoordinate
withoneanother,forexamplean8interiorcolumnwitha6exteriorcolumnwitha12beam.Itis
necessaryforyoutocoordinatedimensionsinanefficientwaytomaketheconstructionasefficientas
possible.