Steel plate girder bridge is a bridge composed of steel plates welded, bolted or riveted to form a solid belly steel beam as the main bearing structure, and the cross section is mostly I-shaped.

According to the driving mode, it is divided into:

• Upper bearing plate beam
• Bottom bearing plate beam

According to the connection:

• Riveted plate beam
• Fully welded plate beam
• Bolted welded plate beam

The economic span of simply supported steel plate girder bridge is generally below 40m, and the economic span of continuous steel plate girder bridge can reach 60m.

• Load-bearing structure (main beam)
• Bridge floor
• Connecting system
• Support

No road and bridge structure (deck system). Among these components:

• Load-bearing structure (main beam): Composed of two I-beams
• Bridge deck: Composed of bridge pillow, track, guard rail, fender, hook bolt
• Connection system: Composed of upper horizontal longitudinal link, lower horizontal longitudinal link, cross link, cross brace

The bridge deck is located on the upper flange of the main beam. The main load-bearing structure is composed of two steel plate beams, which mainly bear vertical loads.

• Simple structure
• Saves steel
• Can be transported in the whole hole
• Whole hole erection
• Often used for small spans

When the span is less than 40m, the steel plate girder bridge is more economical than the steel truss bridge, so the small-span steel bridge is commonly used as a plate girder bridge.

• Load-bearing structure (main beam)
• Bridge deck
• Connecting system
• Bridge deck system
• Support

The bridge deck is located at the lower flange of the main beam.

• Building height (from rail bottom to beam bottom) is low
• Uses more materials (increases the bridge floor system) and manufacturing also costs labor
• Because of the width, it cannot be transported in the whole hole, which increases the workload of loading and framing

• The components are particularly suitable for manufacturing by industrial methods, easy to transport, and the installation speed of the site is fast, so the construction period of the steel bridge is short
• Steel Bridges are easy to repair and replace after damage
• The weather resistance is poor, easy to rust, and the noise is large and the maintenance cost is high when the railway steel bridge adopts the open deck

Highway and roadway bridges and railway bridges

• Simple structure
• Easy production
• Whole hole transportation
• Convenient installation and maintenance