On Thursday, September 5, 2013 3:36:02 PM UTC-7, Carl Ijames wrote:
If you turn the C channel by itself so the 2" dimension is vertical and the

1" legs are horizontal, simply support the ends of a 5' piece, and put a 600

lb load at the center to simulate a live load of a 200 lb person jumping up

and down the deflection will be 0.34" at the center and the maximum stress

will be 32.6 ksi which is in the ballpark of the yield strength of A36

steel.

*** Ick. I was afraid of that. Suppose I made the whole cover out of the channel stock? Just lay piece after piece next to each other and weld them together. That way, any particular piece would have the support of its neighbors.
- Jerry