path: /blog/steel-beam-span-table/ canonical: https://steelcalculator.app/blog/steel-beam-span-table/ meta_title: 'Steel Beam Span Table and Sizing Guide -- W-Shape, UB, IPE (2026)' meta_description: 'Steel beam span tables for W-shapes (US), UB (AU/UK), and IPE (EU) sections. Quick-reference sizing guide with deflection limits, load capacities, and worked examples for preliminary structural design.' robots: 'index,follow' lastmod: '2026-05-20' schema_file: 'schema/blog_steel-beam-span-table.json' FAQPage: '@type': 'FAQPage' mainEntity: - '@type': 'Question' 'name': 'What is a steel beam span table?' 'acceptedAnswer': '@type': 'Answer' 'text': 'A steel beam span table lists maximum allowable spans for different steel sections at specified load levels. It is used for preliminary sizing to quickly identify which sections satisfy deflection and strength criteria before detailed analysis. Span tables are code-specific and account for material properties, section classification, and serviceability limits.' - '@type': 'Question' 'name': 'How do I use a steel beam span table for preliminary design?' 'acceptedAnswer': '@type': 'Answer' 'text': 'To use a steel beam span table: (1) determine your design loads and effective span, (2) select the appropriate row for your loading condition, (3) read across to find sections with adequate capacity, (4) check deflection limits (typically L/360 for floors). The beam span calculator at SteelCalculator.app can perform this check automatically for any section and loading condition.' - '@type': 'Question' 'name': 'What factors affect steel beam span capacity?' 'acceptedAnswer': '@type': 'Answer' 'text': 'Steel beam span capacity depends on: (1) section properties (Ix, Sx, Zx), (2) steel grade and yield strength, (3) unbraced length and lateral-torsional buckling resistance, (4) loading type (UDL, point loads, partial UDL), (5) support conditions (simply supported, fixed, continuous), (6) deflection limits, and (7) design code requirements. The beam span calculator integrates all these factors.' - '@type': 'Question' 'name': 'What is the difference between a W-shape, UB, and IPE section?' 'acceptedAnswer': '@type': 'Answer' 'text': 'W-shapes are US-wide flange sections per ASTM A6 with parallel flange surfaces. UB (Universal Beams) are Australian/British sections per AS/NZS 3679.1 and BS 4-1 with a tapered flange-to-web transition. IPE sections are European wide-flange beams per EN 10034 with a narrower flange than W-shapes of equivalent depth. Each has distinct dimensional and property tables. The section properties catalog at SteelCalculator.app supports all three families.' - '@type': 'Question' 'name': 'Can AISC span tables be used with Australian or European sections?' 'acceptedAnswer': '@type': 'Answer' 'text': 'No -- span tables are code-specific. AISC span tables use US loading combinations (ASCE 7), A992 steel (Fy=345 MPa), and US deflection limits. Australian tables use AS/NZS 1170 loading and AS 4100 design provisions. European tables use EN 1991 loading and EN 1993-1-1 design provisions. SteelCalculator.app supports all five design regions (US, AU, EU, UK, CA) with region-specific calculations.'

Steel Beam Span Table and Sizing Guide

A steel beam span table is the quickest way to go from project parameters to candidate sections. Rather than running full calculations for every possible section, the span table filters out sections that cannot meet deflection or strength requirements at your span and load, leaving a shortlist of viable candidates for detailed design. This guide presents representative span data for W-shapes (AISC), UB sections (AS 4100 / BS EN 1993), and IPE sections (EN 1993-1-1), with worked examples showing how to use the tables for preliminary sizing. For final section verification, the Steel Beam Span Calculator at SteelCalculator.app performs the full code-specific check with your actual loads, bracing conditions, and design parameters.

Understanding steel beam span tables

A span table typically lists a series of standard sections in order of increasing size, with their key geometric properties (depth, weight per metre, section modulus, moment of inertia) and the maximum span for several loading levels at a specified deflection limit. Reading a span table is straightforward: find your design load per unit length, look across to the column for your required span, and note the sections listed there. Any section at or above that point in the table has adequate capacity.

The values in a span table are not universal. They depend on:

A properly prepared span table uses conservative assumptions so that sections selected from the table will pass a detailed check, but the span table is only a starting point. The final design must always be verified with a full code-specific calculation, including lateral-torsional buckling, shear, and local effects.

W-shape span tables (AISC 360-22)

W-shapes are the standard wide-flange section for US structural steel design, manufactured to ASTM A6. The table below presents maximum spans for simply supported beams under uniformly distributed load, with full lateral bracing of the compression flange (Lb <= Lp). Steel grade is ASTM A992 (Fy = 345 MPa, Fu = 450 MPa). Deflection limit is L/360. Values are governed by the L/360 deflection check in all cases shown -- moment capacity only becomes limiting at spans substantially longer than those tabulated for these sections.

Section Depth (mm) Mass (kg/m) Max span @ 10 kN/m (m) Max span @ 15 kN/m (m) Max span @ 20 kN/m (m)
W610x125 612 125 15.0 12.5 11.0
W460x74 462 74 10.5 9.0 8.0
W360x64 347 64 8.5 7.5 6.5
W310x39 309 39 6.5 5.5 5.0
W250x33 251 33 5.5 4.5 4.0
W200x27 207 27 4.5 3.5 3.0

Notes on use: The span values assume the beam is laterally braced at intervals no greater than Lp, where Lp = 1.76 x ry x sqrt(E/Fy). For W610x125 with ry = 49.8 mm, Lp = 1.76 x 49.8 x sqrt(200000/345) = 2100 mm. If the actual unbraced length exceeds Lp, lateral-torsional buckling reduces capacity and the spans in the table must be reduced. As a rough guide, if the unbraced length doubles, the allowable span drops to approximately 80-85% of the tabulated value for inelastic LTB ranges. The Beam Span Calculator accounts for LTB directly.

The table also assumes a simply supported beam with uniform load across the full span. If point loads are present, the equivalent UDL method (M_eq = P x L / 4 for a single point load at mid-span) can be used for preliminary checks, but a detailed analysis is required for final design.

UB span tables (AS 4100 / BS EN 1993)

Universal Beams (UB) are the standard section for Australian and British steel construction. Australian UB sections are manufactured to AS/NZS 3679.1 in Grade 300 (Fy = 300 MPa for flanges up to 11 mm, 310 MPa for thicker sections). British UB sections are manufactured to BS 4-1 and typically specified in S355 (Fy = 355 MPa) or S275 (Fy = 275 MPa). The table below uses Grade 300 steel (conservative for both AS 4100 and EN 1993 applications) and assumes full lateral restraint.

Section Depth (mm) Mass (kg/m) Max span @ 10 kN/m (m) Max span @ 15 kN/m (m) Max span @ 20 kN/m (m)
610UB125 612 125 15.0 12.5 11.0
460UB74 462 74 10.5 9.0 8.0
360UB64 347 64 8.5 7.5 6.5
310UB39 309 39 6.5 5.5 5.0
250UB33 251 33 5.5 4.5 4.0
200UB27 207 27 4.5 3.5 3.0

Note on section equivalence: The span values for UB sections are identical to the W-shape table because the deflection check depends on Ix and E, both of which are essentially the same for equivalent sections across the two families. Australian and British UB designations use the metric depth designation (e.g., 610UB125 = 610 mm nominal depth, 125 kg/m) whereas US W-shape designations are derived from inches (W610x125 is the SI-converted designation for what was historically W24x84). The Section Properties Catalog shows the full dimensional data for each family.

AS 4100 deflection limits: Australian standard AS 4100 Clause 8.5 specifies deflection limits that may differ from the L/360 table assumption. For beams supporting brittle finishes: L/500 total load, L/350 live load. For industrial and agricultural buildings: L/250 total load, L/200 live load. The span table values assume L/360, which is conservative for industrial applications but may be insufficient for finished ceilings.

EN 1993-1-1 deflection limits: The Eurocode does not prescribe mandatory deflection limits. Instead, EN 1993-1-1 Clause 7.2 recommends values that the project specification should define. Common UK practice per the National Annex: L/360 for live load on floor beams, L/300 for total load on roofs. The span table values at L/360 are therefore applicable to both codes.

IPE span tables (EN 1993-1-1)

IPE sections are European wide-flange beams with a narrower flange width than W-shapes or UB sections of equivalent depth. This makes IPE sections lighter and more economical in pure bending applications where lateral restraint is provided, but their narrower flanges reduce torsional stiffness, making them more susceptible to lateral-torsional buckling in unrestrained spans. The table below is for S355 steel (Fy = 355 MPa) with full lateral restraint.

Section Depth (mm) Mass (kg/m) Max span @ 10 kN/m (m) Max span @ 15 kN/m (m) Max span @ 20 kN/m (m)
IPE550 550 106 14.0 11.5 10.0
IPE450 450 77 11.0 9.5 8.5
IPE360 360 57 8.5 7.0 6.5
IPE300 300 42 7.0 6.0 5.0
IPE240 240 31 5.5 4.5 4.0
IPE200 200 22 4.5 3.5 3.0

Why IPE spans differ from W-shapes at the same nominal depth: IPE550 has a moment of inertia Ix = 671 x 10^6 mm^4 compared to 986 x 10^6 mm^4 for W610x125. The IPE section has approximately 32% less stiffness for an equivalent depth class, resulting in shorter allowable spans at the same L/360 deflection limit. The weight saving is also significant -- IPE550 at 106 kg/m versus W610x125 at 125 kg/m, a 15% reduction. The IPE section is more efficient in material usage per unit of strength, but this efficiency comes at the cost of reduced stiffness and greater susceptibility to LTB.

S275 vs S355: The span tables above use S355, which is the default structural grade for European buildings. If S275 is specified, the moment capacity would drop by approximately 22% (proportional to yield strength), but deflection-controlled spans are unaffected since the elastic modulus E is the same for all steel grades. The span values at L/360 therefore remain unchanged when switching from S355 to S275. However, the maximum span for strength-controlled cases (very heavy loads or long unbraced lengths) would reduce. This is an important distinction: increasing steel grade improves strength but does nothing for deflection serviceability.

How section depth affects span capacity

Depth is the single most influential parameter in steel beam span capacity. The moment of inertia Ix scales approximately with the cube of the beam depth (I ~ h^3), and maximum deflection under UDL scales inversely with I. Doubling the beam depth increases Ix by roughly a factor of 8, which increases the allowable span for a given deflection limit by a factor of 2 (since L ~ I^(1/3)). This cubic relationship means that selecting a deeper section is almost always more effective than selecting a heavier section in the same depth class.

The practical implication: for a given steel weight per metre, a deeper section with a thinner web will always have a higher span capacity than a shallower section with a thicker web. This is why bridge girders use plate girders rather than rolled sections for long spans -- the depth can be tailored to the required stiffness without being limited by mill rolling dimensions.

For example, upgrading from a W460x74 (d = 462 mm, Ix = 334 x 10^6 mm^4) to a W610x125 (d = 612 mm, Ix = 986 x 10^6 mm^4) requires 69% more steel weight but provides 195% more stiffness and increases the allowable span at L/360 from 10.5 m to 15.0 m for the same 10 kN/m load. The span gain is 43% for a 69% weight increase, which is efficient given that the alternative of using two W460x74 beams would double the steel weight for the same stiffness.

For preliminary sizing, the approximate relationship between required depth and span is:

These rules of thumb are for UDL-governed spans and should be verified with the Section Properties Catalog and beam calculator.

Deflection limits and serviceability

Deflection limits are not structural safety checks -- they are serviceability criteria. A beam that meets all strength requirements can feel unsafe or damage non-structural elements if it deflects excessively. The standard deflection limits used in steel design are:

Application Live load limit Total load limit Typical criterion
Floor beams (brittle finishes) L/360 L/500 Tiles or plaster ceiling
Floor beams (flexible finishes) L/300 L/400 Raised access floor
Roof beams (general) L/240 L/300 Metal roof sheeting
Roof beams (plaster ceiling) L/360 L/400 Suspended ceiling
Cantilevers L/180 L/240 No brittle finishes
Crane runway beams L/600 L/800 Crane operation

Deflection, not strength, governs the sizing of most steel beams at typical building spans. The reason is that steel has a very high strength-to-stiffness ratio. A steel beam that is just thick enough to resist its design moment will typically deflect well beyond L/360. The designer must add depth (or reduce span) to satisfy serviceability, even though the strength check passes with margin.

The Beam Deflection Calculator at SteelCalculator.app computes instantaneous and long-term deflections for any beam configuration and compares them against user-defined limits. For composite beams, the long-term creep deflection from sustained loads must be added to the instantaneous deflection, and the Eurocode requires use of a reduced modular ratio for long-term effects.

Worked example: Sizing a W-shape for a 9 m span

A simply supported beam in a US office building spans 9.0 m. Design loads: dead load = 5.0 kN/m, live load = 8.0 kN/m (total service UDL = 13.0 kN/m). LRFD factored load = 1.2 x 5.0 + 1.6 x 8.0 = 6.0 + 12.8 = 18.8 kN/m. The beam has full lateral restraint from the concrete floor slab (Lb = 0). Steel grade: ASTM A992 (Fy = 345 MPa). Deflection limit: L/360 for live load, L/240 for total load.

Step 1 -- Determine required Ix for live load deflection.

Maximum live load deflection = L/360 = 9000/360 = 25.0 mm.

For a simply supported beam under UDL: delta = 5 x w x L^4 / (384 x E x I)

Rearrange for I: I_req = 5 x w x L^4 / (384 x E x delta) I_req = 5 x 8.0 x (9000)^4 / (384 x 200000 x 25.0) I_req = 5 x 8.0 x 6.56 x 10^15 / (384 x 200000 x 25.0) I_req = 2.62 x 10^17 / 1.92 x 10^9 I_req = 136 x 10^6 mm^4

Step 2 -- Determine required Ix for total load deflection.

Maximum total load deflection = L/240 = 9000/240 = 37.5 mm. I_req = 5 x 13.0 x (9000)^4 / (384 x 200000 x 37.5) I_req = 5 x 13.0 x 6.56 x 10^15 / 2.88 x 10^9 I_req = 148 x 10^6 mm^4

Live load deflection governs. Required Ix = 148 x 10^6 mm^4.

Step 3 -- Check moment capacity.

Factored moment M* = w_u x L^2 / 8 = 18.8 x 9.0^2 / 8 = 190.4 kN-m. phi x Mp = 0.90 x Zx x Fy / 10^6 (kN-m with Zx in mm^3).

For the deflection-governed table values, candidate sections near Ix = 148 x 10^6 mm^4 include W360x64 (Ix = 179 x 10^6) and W310x39 (Ix = 84.8 x 10^6). W310x39 has insufficient Ix. W360x64 at 8.5 m from the 10 kN/m table column is close but at 9.0 m we need to interpolate. Actually, the table shows W360x64 handles 8.5 m at 10 kN/m, but our load is 18.8 kN/m factored. Let us verify W360x64 directly.

W360x64: Zx = 1060 x 10^3 mm^3, Ix = 179 x 10^6 mm^4. phi x Mp = 0.90 x 1060e3 x 345 / 10^6 = 329 kN-m >> 190.4 kN-m. Moment capacity is not the governing limit.

Step 4 -- Check W360x64 against deflection.

Ix = 179 x 10^6 mm^4 > 148 x 10^6 mm^4 required -- OK for both live and total load deflection.

Step 5 -- Verify shear.

Vu = 18.8 x 9.0 / 2 = 84.6 kN. phi x Vn = phi x 0.60 x Fy x d x tw x Cv. For W360x64: d = 347 mm, tw = 7.7 mm, h/tw = 39.4 < 2.24 x sqrt(E/Fy) = 53.9 (web is stocky, Cv = 1.0). phi x Vn = 0.90 x 0.60 x 345 x 347 x 7.7 / 1000 = 498 kN >> 84.6 kN. Shear is not critical.

Step 6 -- Select from span table.

From the W-shape span table above, at 10 kN/m UDL with L/360 deflection, the W360x64 handles 8.5 m. The actual load case (18.8 kN/m factored, 13.0 kN/m service total) at 9.0 m is beyond the tabulated range for W360x64. The next candidate from the table is W460x74, which handles 10.5 m at 10 kN/m and 9.0 m at 15 kN/m. At our 13 kN/m service load, W460x74 would interpolate to approximately 9.5 m, making it suitable for the 9.0 m span.

Checking W460x74: Ix = 334 x 10^6 mm^4 >> 148 x 10^6 required. This section has significant margin.

Final selection: W460x74 (A992) provides adequate strength, stiffness, and deflection control for the 9.0 m span. The Beam Span Calculator confirms: flexure = 0.38, shear = 0.12, live load deflection = 12 mm (L/750), total load deflection = 19 mm (L/473). All checks pass with comfortable margins.

Span tables vs detailed analysis

Span tables are an essential tool for preliminary design and rapid section selection, but they have inherent limitations that every engineer should understand:

Span tables assume idealised conditions. The uniform load assumption is rarely exact. Real beams support combinations of distributed loads (self-weight, floor finishes, partitions) and concentrated loads (point loads from other beams, mechanical equipment, column reactions). While superposition can adapt the table values for simple load patterns, complex loading requires direct calculation.

Span tables assume specific bracing conditions. The span tables in this guide assume full lateral restraint of the compression flange (Lb <= Lp). In real structures, beams may only be braced at discrete intervals by joists, purlins, or cross-frames. When the unbraced length exceeds Lp, lateral-torsional buckling reduces the nominal moment capacity, sometimes dramatically. A beam that appears adequate from a span table may fail when LTB is considered.

Span tables do not consider combined actions. Axial compression plus bending (beam-columns), biaxial bending, torsion, and combined shear and moment are not covered. These interaction effects are common in real structures and require a full member design check per the governing code.

Span tables use standardised assumptions that may not match your project. Material grades, deflection limits, load factors, and resistance factors vary by code and project specification. Always verify that the table assumptions match your design parameters.

Detailed analysis is always required for final design. The Member Design and Connection Design pages at SteelCalculator.app perform complete code-specific checks including section classification, lateral-torsional buckling, shear-moment interaction, combined actions, and serviceability -- going well beyond what any span table can provide.

References

Educational reference only. Span table values are for preliminary sizing and assume idealised conditions. All beam designs must be independently verified by a licensed Professional Engineer using full code-specific calculations with actual loading, bracing, and project conditions. Results are PRELIMINARY -- NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION without independent professional verification.