PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The W-Beam Rail is a basic 12 ¼” steel guardrail shape attached to steel posts or truss girders. It is a simple railing that usually is accompanied by a block out between it and its supporting element. It can be strengthened by doubling it, sometimes called “nested rail”. It also can be strengthened by backing it up with continuous tubular steel elements. Standard rail lengths (12’-6”) and hole-locations (patterns are 6 ¼” from the end) are usually used across the bridge in an attempt to economize the fabrication costs. Many times these are adjusted accordingly by custom cutting and punching the rail pieces to coordinate with truss members or designed post spacings. The rail pieces have slotted holes for their final adjustment when attaching to their posts and any terminal pieces. The height specified for this railing is commonly 27” from the top of the rail to the pavement. This translates to a dimension of 1’-9” to the mounting bolts. US Bridge will supply any standard or custom fabricated W-Beam Rail that is needed for your bridge project.