We must compute the moment of inertia for the built-up steel beam. Since the built-up beam is comprised of standard steel shapes, we must consult published reference materials to obtain properties of those shapes. Such section property tables are typically included in most textbooks and in a variety of handbooks.

For the wide-flange shape, we will need the following properties to calculate the moment of inertia for the built-up beam:

Section Properties W16×40