Im tring to find out what size I-beams are going to be needed for my shop. This is going in a 40x60 shop, and at extremes will hold the front or rear of a vehicle up. So i guess my load limit should be 4000#. the load bearing beam will have a span of 40ft. and the supports will be 60ft. I need to get by as cheap as i can but not compromising any strength.

Please help!!!!

 

my buddy is a structural engineer. I'll ask him this later this evening

 

I calculated about a 15x50# beam. which is fifteen inches tall and 50 pounds per foot.
But that is only using your 4000 pound load. I did not add the weight of the beam or roof or anything else.
Also, a truss setup would be stronger and probably cheaper.


(BTW, I do not assume liability for your shop falling and killing you) lol

 

15 in.!! Well i dont have the room for a truss style. This is going to be inside the shop but not attached to it except the concrete.

My dad said earlier that i need a 16" and the two runners 12" with 5 6"x1/4" support poles.

 

Well this is calculated as a single span with no supports. I am not really understanding what you are saying by runners. But if it had support poles it could definitely be smaller.

 

That is a big span to support everything, we rarely ever build anything with more than a 20' span without kickers. You really need X bracing too for torsional forces. Engineering a building isnt as easy as just figuring compress load bearing, you have to take into account tension forces too. I can get you close to what you want but depending on spacing of your girders could be 20x1/2 I, also depends on what quality steel you go with. I dont know at what point its cheaper to go with bigger lower quality versus smaller higher grade as I dont deal with the pricing of material I just tell them what they need to go with

As Brent said a truss style would work out much better and be much stronger. We need a LOT more details to even come close to figuring out what you need.

Height of building?
Windspeed to withstand?
Piers/gradebeam supporting columns?
Spacing of columns?
Tube steel, I beam, square or CIP columns?
Static load and at what point in the span?

Most cars are supported by a lift attached from the floor, why is the I beam going to be supporting any of the car load while on the lift?

 

It seems he is just using it as a big gantry crane as it doesn't say if it is an existing building or not. But as a gantry it wouldn't have any supports to be of any use. So that means BIGASS beam.

 

A gantry crane design is going to raise his roofline up quite a bit too due to the longitudinal beams. I dont think he quite knows what hes getting into if he wants to start supporting that kind of weight. Only way a gantry system could work is with a lot of latitudinal beams and X bracing $$$$$$$$

 

A simply supported beam of a good size would do it if it was a stationary gantry. We had one in a shop we used to have. Worked very nice. Anyway definitely need more info.

 

Yeah I suppose so, I was thinking of a mobile gantry crane that would move the length of the shop on a rail system. Guess my brain automatically jumps to that, thats all Ive built...