The paper is concerned with the behavior of tapered steel plate girders, primarily subjected to shear loading; experimental as well as finite element results obtained from the studies are presented in this paper. In the experimental study, 11 large-scale girders, one of uniform section and 10 tapered, were tested to failure and all girders were analysed by finite element method. The results are compared and the accuracy of the finite element modeling established. A parametric study was carried out with thickness of web, loading direction and taper angle as parameters. An analytical model, based on Cardiff model for girders of uniform cross-section, is also proposed in the paper.