Box girder

A box or tubular girder is a girder that forms an enclosed tube with multiple walls, rather than an I or H-beam. Originally constructed of riveted wrought iron, they are now found in rolled or welded steel, aluminium extrusions or prestressed concrete.

Compared to an I-beam, the advantage of a box girder is that it better resists torsion. Having multiple vertical webs, it can also carry more load than an I-beam of equal height (although it will use more material than a taller I-beam of equivalent capacity).

The distinction in naming between a box girder and a tubular girder is imprecise. Generally the term box girder is used, especially if it is rectangular in section. Where the girder carries its "content" inside the box, such as the Britannia Bridge, it is termed a tubular girder. Tubular girder is also used if the girder is round or oval in cross-section, such as the Royal Albert Bridge.

Where a large box girder contains more than two walls, i.e. with multiple boxes, it is referred to as a cellular girder.

The theoretical basis of the box girder was largely the work of the engineer Sir William Fairbairn, with the aid of the mathematician Eaton Hodgkinson, around 1830. They sought an optimal design for the most efficient design of beam in the new material of riveted wrought iron plates.

Most girders are statically loaded such that one web is in compression, the other in tension. Fairbairn's original cranes used a cellular construction for the compression face for their jib, so as to resist buckling. This jib was curved, tapered and formed of riveted wrought iron plates. Three cells were formed inside the concave (lower) face of this girder, again of riveted plates.

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