Rolled steel members with a compact H-section are widely used for supporting frames of bridge erection and temporary earth retaining systems. In such structures the jack up point or crossing point of members is subjected to localized compressive load. The resistance of an unstiffened web is governed by one of failure modes (crushing, crippling and buckling). This paper presents the experimental results using compact rolled beams and welded steel beams with large slenderness. The load-displacement behavior, stress distribution, failure mode and ultimate load are investigated for the member with seven different sections. Considering the effective width under edge loading, a simple predicting formula is proposed based on plate bucking theory.
