Greetings to All!

I have yet another question to lay before the collective oracle. To
wit, "How much weight can a simply supported steel plate support?"

I was minding my own business when the FOB Mayor showed up. He wanted
to know if a sheet of the steel plate out back would support a HMMWV.
How the heck would I know? We had recently put in a drainage system
around the FOB. We have no more culverts. He wants a leetle bridge.
Super.

I'd rather not give him something that will turn into a taco at the
first usage, so's I thought I'd look up the information. Heh, heh. I
suppose if I really knew what to do with Young's Modulus and Poisson's
Ratio and what-not, I'd be OK. That seems to be all I could find on
the net. Yay.

Could someone tell me the answer, or at least point me in the right
direction?

The ditch is about 2-3 feet wide. I have 4x8 steel plates in 3/8,
1/2, and 1 inch thicknesses. I have SOME 2 in square tube, 1/8 wall
that I could make a support frame of if needed. 1/2 in. plate is the
most plentiful. The HUMMVWs in question list a GVW of 12,500 lbs.
Not. They currently weigh closer to 20k. (Add on armor and turrets,
don't 'cha know.) We'd have to add some type of skirting to keep it
from sliding around. That is no problem. Oh, yeah. I also have a
whole pile of about three inch pipe in 20 ft lengths. 'Bout 3/16 in
wall.

If the whole thing failed under load, the most that would happen is
we'd break out the wrecker and go fish it out. A two foot drop is
uncomfortable, but not all that unsusall for here. Heck, it wouldn't
put as much stress on the vehicle as an IED, and we repair that kind
of thing every now and again.

Thanks in Advance

Ken, in Not-so-Sunny Afghanistan