What Is a Jumbo Beam? Sizes, Weights, and Uses

Key Takeaways

• Jumbo beams are heavy shapes. The AISC Specification defines heavy shapes as hot-rolled shapes with flanges thicker than 2 inches. Older references call them Group 4 and 5 shapes.
• Flange thickness, not depth, makes a jumbo. A W44x335 is the deepest family but not a heavy shape, while a W14x873 is about 24 inches deep with flanges about 5.5 inches thick.
• The W36x925 is the heaviest standard wide flange shape. It is about 43 inches deep, and a 40-foot piece weighs 37,000 pounds.
• Charpy testing applies in specific cases. Heavy shapes in primary tension with complete-joint-penetration welds through the thickness need ASTM A6 S30 testing, and it must be called out on the drawings and the order.
• Plan cutting, shipping, and lead time early. Preheat to 150°F before thermally cutting copes or access holes, check piece weights against truck limits, and pull from stock when the mill’s rolling cycle doesn’t fit the schedule.

A single 40-foot W36x925 weighs 37,000 pounds before anyone cuts, copes, or welds it. That weight changes how the piece is specified, tested, cut, shipped, and set.

A jumbo beam is an extra-heavy hot-rolled wide flange shape with very thick flanges and a thick web. “Jumbo” is a trade term. The AISC Specification calls these heavy shapes, defined as hot-rolled shapes with flanges thicker than 2 inches, and older references call them Group 4 and Group 5 shapes.

This guide covers jumbo beam sizes and weights, where they get used, and what to sort out before you order them.

What Makes a Beam a Jumbo?

Flange thickness and weight per foot put a shape in the heavy category. The W44 is the deepest wide flange family, but a W44x335 has flanges 1.77 inches thick, just under the 2-inch line. A W14x873 is only about 24 inches deep, yet its flanges are about 5.5 inches thick.

Wide flange names give the nominal depth and the weight. A W36x925 is a W36 family shape that weighs 925 pounds per foot. With heavy shapes, the actual depth runs well past the nominal number: a W36x925 is about 43 inches deep, because the added weight goes into thicker flanges and a thicker web. Our guide to structural steel sizes and weight explains how shapes are designated.

Jumbo Beam Sizes and Weights

The heaviest standard wide flange shapes are in the W14, W36, and W40 families. These reference points come from published shape data:

The W36x925 is the heaviest wide flange shape in the AISC shape tables. It and the W14x873 were added to ASTM A6, the standard that covers hot-rolled shapes, in the early 2010s. ArcelorMittal has since announced rolled sections up to about 1,000 pounds per foot.

To estimate a piece weight, multiply the weight per foot by the length. A 60-foot W36x925 comes to 55,500 pounds.

Where Jumbo Beams Get Used

Heavy shapes were first intended mostly as columns, and columns in tall buildings are still a major use. They also show up as transfer girders that carry columns over open floor areas, as heavy-load framing in buildings like data centers, and in bridges, including as arch members on tied-arch spans.

One well-known example is 150 North Riverside in Chicago, the first building to use both W36x925 and W14x873 sections. Its designers used single rolled W36x925s in place of the built-up, concrete-filled box sections first considered for the sloping transfer members, and set pairs of W36x925s toe to toe to form mega columns.

That example shows the appeal. A rolled shape arrives as one piece, so it skips the cutting and welding of plates that a built-up section requires.

What to Know Before You Order Jumbo Beams

Charpy Testing Applies in Specific Cases

The core of a heavy flange, near where it meets the web, tends to have the lowest toughness in the section, and heavy shapes can show segregation in that area. That’s why the AISC Specification (Section A3.1d in the 2022 edition) requires Charpy V-notch toughness testing for heavy shapes in one specific situation: members carrying primary tension, from axial tension or bending, that are spliced or connected with complete-joint-penetration groove welds through the flange or web.

In those cases the shapes are ordered with ASTM A6 Supplementary Requirement S30, a Charpy test taken at that core location. Unless the order states otherwise, the minimum is an average of 20 ft-lb of absorbed energy at 70°F. The requirement has to be shown in the design documents and carried onto the purchase order. It isn’t automatic, and many heavy shapes don’t need it.

Some specifications build toughness in. ASTM A913, for example, includes a Charpy requirement at the standard flange location as part of the spec itself.

Pick the Right Grade

A992 is the standard specification for wide flange shapes in building construction, and it is often dual certified to A572 Grade 50. Heavy columns on tall buildings sometimes use ASTM A913 Grade 65 or 70, a higher-strength steel made with a quenching and self-tempering process, to save weight. Our overview of structural steel grades covers how these specifications compare.

Plan for Cutting and Welding

Before thermally cutting beam copes or weld access holes in shapes with flanges over 2 inches thick, the AISC Specification requires preheating to at least 150°F. Those cut surfaces are then ground to bright metal and inspected with magnetic particle or dye penetrant testing before splice welding. Drilling or sawing the curved part of an access hole avoids thermal cutting altogether.

Welding preheat rises with thickness as well. For common structural steels welded with low-hydrogen processes, AWS D1.1 calls for at least 225°F once the thickest part at the joint is over 2-1/2 inches, so build heating time into the fabrication schedule.

Saw cutting avoids a torch’s heat-affected zone on end cuts. Our saw cutting handles heavy beams, and many beams can be cambered before they ship through our section bending and cambering service.

Check Straightness at Receiving

ASTM A6 sets camber and sweep tolerances for heavy shapes the same way it does for lighter ones. Check long pieces at receiving, before any processing. Our post on why steel beams are never perfectly straight explains the limits and how to measure them.

Plan Shipping Around Piece Weight

Federal rules cap trucks on the Interstate at 80,000 pounds gross, and that figure includes the truck and trailer. A single 40-foot W36x925 takes up a large share of a legal load, and heavier or longer loads need state permits. Know the piece weights before you schedule deliveries and crane picks.

Check Lead Times and Paperwork Early

Mills roll each size on a cycle, so a size that just rolled may not come around again for weeks. Data center construction has also put pressure on beam mills, especially for heavy sections, and industry reports in 2026 pointed to longer lead times on heavy beams. Pulling from service center stock, when the size is available, takes the rolling schedule out of the picture.

Ask for mill test reports when you order, especially when the job needs S30 test results or domestic steel. Our post on American-made wide flange beams covers domestic sourcing.

Sourcing Jumbo Steel Beams in the Northeast

Intsel Steel East stocks jumbo beams in multiple grades and a wide range of sizes, along with heavy wall structural tube, and delivers across the Northeast from service centers in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Send us the sizes, grade, lengths, quantities, and any Charpy or documentation requirements, and request a quote. We’ll tell you what’s in stock, what needs a mill order, and what the timeline looks like for both.