After performing calculations the beams compare as follows: This would give us, to be supported by the girder, a floor area of 12’ x 25’ = 300 square feet" and 31,500 pounds of load. An 1883 article from The American Architect and Building News compares three alternatives in a hypothetical railway station "in which the second story is devoted to offices, and where we must use girders to support the second floor of 25-foot span, and not less than 12 feet on centres if we can avoid it. With the availability of affordable steel, flitch beams became a way to strengthen long-span wooden beams cost-effectively while taking up less space than solid wood. In the 18th century, before the availability of steel beams, pine beams were flitched with hardwood such as oak. Similarly, a wooden beam was flitched by cutting it lengthwise one half was then rotated 180 degrees both longitudinally and laterally to ensure that any defects were separated. "Flitch" originally referred to a slab of bacon, which was cut into strips lengthwise. Flitch beams were used as a cost-effective way to strengthen long-span wooden beams, and have been largely supplanted by more recent technology. The metal plates within the beam are known as flitch plates. Further alternating layers of wood and steel can be used to produce an even stronger beam. In that common form it is sometimes referenced as a steel flitch beam. Typically, the flitch beam is made up of a vertical steel plate sandwiched between two wood beams, the three layers being held together with bolts. ![]() Visual description of how a flitch beam is constructedĪ flitch beam (or flitched beam) is a compound beam used in the construction of houses, decks, and other primarily wood-frame structures.
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