Editing Structural engineering (section)

===Beams===
{{Main|Beam (structure)|l1=Beam}}
[[File:The Little Belt Bridge (1935).jpeg|thumb|[[Little Belt Bridge|''Little Belt'']]: a [[truss bridge]] in [[Denmark]]]]

A beam may be defined as an element in which one dimension is much greater than the other two and the applied loads are usually normal to the main axis of the element. Beams and columns are called line elements and are often represented by simple lines in structural modeling.
* [[cantilever]]ed (supported at one end only with a fixed connection)
* simply supported (fixed against vertical translation at each end and horizontal translation at one end only,  and able to rotate at the supports)
* fixed (supported in all directions for translation and rotation at each end)
* continuous (supported by three or more supports)
* a combination of the above (ex. supported at one end and in the middle)

Beams are elements that carry pure bending only. Bending causes one part of the section of a beam (divided along its length) to go into compression and the other part into tension. The compression part must be designed to resist buckling and crushing, while the tension part must be able to adequately resist the tension.