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What Does W18x35 Mean? Steel Beam Size Explained in 60 Seconds

Learn what W18x35 means, including nominal depth and weight, actual AISC dimensions, twenty-foot member weight, connection fit-up, and clearances.

Practical context

How the steel information fits the project workflow

Learn what W18x35 means, including nominal depth and weight, actual AISC dimensions, twenty-foot member weight, connection fit-up, and clearances.

Project documents, governing standards, and qualified professional review control project-specific work.

Companion reading and practice

How do the designation and takeoff connect?

For a fictional 20 ft W18X35 member, the nominal calculation is 20 × 35 = 700 lb. The 35 refers to pounds per foot; the depth-family label should not replace the actual dimension field.

Keep the designation, measured length basis, quantity, and units together. Look up the actual depth and flange/web dimensions when those values are needed. Nominal weight does not establish load capacity or include plates, fasteners, coatings, and fabrication allowances.

Try it with a sample

Open the shape record, then enter one 20 ft piece in Material Takeoff and compare the nominal weight.

Try a one-member takeoff

Examples are fictional learning exercises. This companion text adds context to the video; the transcript below records the narration.

Primary sources

References and further reading

Use the edition and requirements adopted for the project. These references support further reading; a short video does not reproduce the complete standards.

Published by Quantum Steel Design. Sources and editorial approach · Report a correction · Companion guide updated .

Accessible transcript

What Does W18x35 Mean? Steel Beam Size Explained in 60 Seconds transcript

The visible transcript makes the video content available to people and search systems without requiring playback.

  1. Ever wonder what W eighteen by thirty-five actually means?
  2. The W means wide-flange: two parallel flanges connected by a web.
  3. Eighteen is the nominal depth, not the exact depth. In the AISC Shapes Database, this member is seventeen point seven inches deep.
  4. Thirty-five is the nominal weight in pounds per foot.
  5. So a twenty-foot piece weighs about seven hundred pounds before connection material or coating.
  6. Its flanges are six inches wide. The web is point three inches thick, and each flange is point four two five inches thick.
  7. Those numbers matter for fit-up, connections, clearances, and engineering checks. But remember: the name identifies the member. It does not approve the design.
  8. Decode another shape with the free Quantum Steel Design reference at quantumsteeldesign.com slash steel-tools.

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