Metal Beams for Buildings

Many steel buildings are quite large and require a lot of open space. This means versatility in the way they’re used: for example, buildings designed to store large equipment, airplane hangars and buildings where livestock will live are often designed as one very large room. But it also means slightly more challenge for the load-bearing structural steel. A lot of times, the columns that are usually added to support a metal building of this size would get in the way of its functionality.

A common solution to this challenge is adding load-bearing metal beams to the list of structural elements in your new steel building. Metal beams for buildings, generally known as I-beams but sometimes known as H-beams (due to their resemblance to both letters, depending on which way they’re turned) are high-strength stainless steel beams that run the length of your metal building’s roof. They sit on the inside of your steel structure, under the metal roof, and become an integral part of the steel frame.

These support beams are a way to transfer the load of your building to the metal roof, rather than to steel columns that would interfere with your open space or clear span. Metal beams are often installed with steel joists running perpendicular, so that more weight is transferred to the load-bearing walls.

High-Strength, Load-Bearing Steel Beam Construction

Worldwide Steel Buildings can incorporate steel I-beams to assist with load handling of long span structures. When needed, we will design your building to use steel I-beams instead of our standard truss system, which allows for larger spans and heavier loads. We may add flanges to especially large spans and heavy loads, so that the beams are even more high strength.

This allows us to transfer the load of your building without incorporating columns in the middle of the project. Each beam design project undergoes strict load calculations to ensure your building is built to last.

We only select the highest quality materials to support your project, and we use only steel made in the United States for transfer beams, straight legs, joists, trusses and more. When it comes to strength and durability, our buildings won’t be beat. We have a huge selection of I-beams that we utilize to ensure your building can handle whatever project you have in mind.

Worldwide Steel Buildings uses American-made materials, and every piece for your project is handled by our team before it leaves our plant, ensuring quality materials every time. Our structural elements are all covered under our 50-year limited warranty, as well.

Just like every other aspect of your steel building, I-beams are fully customizable. Weight, section depth and width, flange width, web thickness and more are all chosen to perfectly match the size of your building as well as its expected wind and snow load.

To learn more about available I-beams, click here to view our table, or contact one of our metal building specialists for more information on how structural steel beams could work for your new steel building project.