Consulting Structural Engineers
Beams and lintels
JS Engineering Design Ltd. can give advice and provide the calculations and details needed for your project, be it a simple beam or a complex framework. See the checklist below.
Beams are members that span across openings and support structure or loading above them. In buildings they are often used to support walls or floors across openings in walls on the floor below. Lintels are short beams used across window and door openings. Posts can be used to support beams and make a frame. These can range in form from balconies to large framed industrial buildings.
Beams are usually in timber, steel or reinforced concrete. Other materials can be used such as aluminium, glass, or reinforced brickwork, but these are more unusual.
Timber beams are often used to trim timber floors around stairs or balconies and frame openings in stud walls. In older buildings large bulks of timber are used to support stone walls and chimneys. Engineered timber beams such as glu-laminated beams and ply-web beams can extend the spans and load carrying capacity above that of standard sawn timber.
Beams generally have to be designed, i.e. the loads carried by the beam calculated and compared with the strength of the beam. Lintels over small openings are generally sized from manufacturers load tables. Other beams have to be individually calculated. As well as the strength of the beam other factors have to be considered. Such as:
This last item can involve following the beam load down through the building to the foundations and can create more calculations than the beam itself! If the beam is to replace an existing wall then the effect of this on the overall stability of the building, and in some cases adjacent buildings, also has to be considered. Walls provide lateral as well as vertical support, and simple beams cannot replace the lateral support afforded by a wall.
Assess the structural
significance of your project to other parts of
the structure. This can be from plans or a site
visit.