Bridge Steel Girder: Choosing the Right Type Before the Right Price
Choosing a bridge steel girder by span band and site condition: plate girder, box girder, truss, or arch - with Q345qC steel, bolted splices, and full NDT documentation behind every Jidian package.
The Girder Type Decision Comes Before Any Girder Price Does
Most enquiries for a bridge steel girder arrive as one number - the span - and a request for price. But the girder type is the decision that generates the price: a welded plate girder, a bolted box girder, and a truss for the same span carry different steel weights, fabrication hours, transport shapes, and erection equipment. Choosing the type by span band and site condition first is how public and industrial buyers keep quotations comparable and avoid paying for structural capability a crossing does not need.
How Girder Types Map to Spans and Sites
- Welded plate girder: the workhorse for road crossings up to roughly 40 m; fastest fabrication, straightforward transport in container-sized modules.
- Box girder: chosen when torsional stiffness matters - curved decks, eccentric traffic, or longer spans in the 30-60 m band.
- Truss: the efficient answer from roughly 50-80 m, where web depth earns its steel back and module size stays transportable.
- Arch: selected where navigation clearance, span above 60 m, or civic appearance governs; erection staging is more demanding and must be planned with the lifting method.
What Every Bridge Package Ships With
| Item | Standard Provision |
|---|---|
| Bridge steel | Q345qC bridge-grade steel |
| Splices | High-strength bolted, calibrated-wrench installation |
| Modules | 12 m x 3.2 m, 40 ft container compatible |
| Weld inspection | Full NDT dossier with delivery |
| Documentation | Structural drawings for local design authority review |
The plate girder lift above is why splice design matters as much as girder choice: every field joint on our bridges is a designed bolt pattern installed with calibrated wrenches, keeping fatigue-critical work inside factory inspection. The girder-type selector on this page applies the span and deck rules above; the full modular steel girder and arch bridge platform covers 20-80 m with complete NDT documentation, and our export workflow handles container packing and port documents.
Configure your requirement
This selector applies the same specification rules our engineers use when pricing a project. It gives you a starting configuration to confirm with us - final values are confirmed per project.
For a Straight deck crossing, the recommendation above is the starting point - final girder type is confirmed with the local design authority.
Product platforms behind this solution
Send your project data
The form below is pre-linked to this solution page, so our engineers see which configuration you are asking about. Share spans, loads, or site details to help us prepare a quotation.