web-plate

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun In a beam made to resist transverse or bending stress, the plate in the plane of the action of the load which joins the upper and lower flanges of the beam, resists the tendency to buckle, and withstands the shear. In very deep plate-girders, the web or vertical plate requires to be reinforced to prevent it from deforming under load: this is done by angle-irons or by extra plates.