Composite beams for superior load capacity
Flitch Plate Beams carry a larger load than a solid wood beam with the same depth and span. A flitch plate beam is a composite beam made by sandwiching a steel plate between two wood joists, and it can be built using multiple layers of timber and steel plates to achieve the required strength. Usually, they are held together with specifically designed screws or bolts arranged in a specified pattern on the face of the beam, connecting all layers into a single unified beam.
If a building is limited in the depth of the girders and joists, Flitch Plate Beams are used because a comparatively shallow flitch-plate girder could carry the same load as a solid wood beam of much greater depth. It provides most of the strength of a steel I-beam at a lower cost and allowed attachment of other structural members using ordinary wood-framing methods while creating structural integrity.
Some samples of our recent work, manufactured in our production plant in McAllen, TX.
