plate girder

noun

1. an iron or steel beam built up from plates and shapes welded or riveted together, usually including a plate or plates for a web, four angle irons forming two flanges, and a pair of plates to reinforce the flanges.

Word History and Origins

Origin of plate girder¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

In a plate girder, the rivets connecting the flange to the web take the horizontal shear or the increment to the flange stress.

From Project Gutenberg

They certainly do not act as the rivets of a plate girder, nor as the vertical rods of a Howe truss.

From Project Gutenberg

In Pittsburg, some years ago, a plate-girder span collapsed under the weight of a locomotive which it had carried many times.

From Project Gutenberg

He compares them to web stresses in a plate girder, which can scarcely be called secondary.

From Project Gutenberg

A plate-girder bridge, having girders under rails, was found to be badly rusted.

From Project Gutenberg