Stiffeners- As name suggest, stiffeners are used to make plate girder stiff or rigid. Stiffeners are typically plate welded to the web. These plate cab be applied to either just one side of the web or both side. read more
The longitudinal stiffener can increase shear and bending strengths of plate girder. Generally, they are not essential as transverse stiffeners. However, we can see these stiffeners used in highway bridges in deep beams. Transverse stiffeners are used to increase shear capacity of web. read more
Flange stiffeners may be used on large span box girder bridges but are unlikely to be encountered elsewhere. Guidance on the design of stiffeners is given below and in Guidance Notes GN 2.04 and GN 2.05. read more
In a plate girder bridge, the plate girders are typically I-beams made up from separate structural steel plates (rather than rolled as a single cross-section), which are welded or, in older bridges, bolted or riveted together to form the vertical web and horizontal flanges of the beam. read more