This is an example of a Steel beam span length. This shows you how to calcualte the effective span length of the beam, the distance from the centre of one end bearing to the centre of the other end bearing. For example, if the clear distance between supports is 3m and the beam has a minimum end bearing length of 0.1m at both ends, you will calculate the effective span length as follows: 3m + 0.1m/2 + 0.1m/2 = 3.1m