Plinth Beam

Plinth beam is a beam in a framed structure provided at or above (sometimes below) ground level that takes the load of the wall built on top of it. Most other beams are subjected to loads not only from walls but also the load from the slab, such as dead loads (self weight of slab, floor finish ets.) and live load. Plinth beams also serve another indirect purpose - they reduce the length of the columns thereby reducing their effective length and slenderness.