Dead Loads - Structural Design of Beams

Dead Loads

The Dead Load of a structure is its self weight - the weight of the materials that are used to build the structure itself.  Because the weights of building materials are know with a fairly high degree of certainty, dead loads can often be pretty accurately predicted for most structures.

It is important to know the dead load of the structure you are designing not only so the self-weight of beams and other structural members can be accounted for in their design, but dead loads are the primary load used to calculate seismic forces.

Common Building Material Dead Loads

Material	Weight (pounds per cubic foot)
Wood - Douglas-Fir/Larch	31.2
Wood - Hem-Fir	26.8
Steel	490
Concrete	150