This article presents some observations related to the phenomenon that occurs when a densely stiffened steel plate girder (both transversally and longitudinally) is subjected to patch loading. The failure mechanism differs considerably for the structural case of girders with unstiffened girders or the case in which the girders present largely spaced transverse stiffeners. These structural cases have been studied thoroughly in last decades. However, in steel plate girders with closely spaced stiffeners, which are occasionally found in bridge design, the current EN1993-1-5 rules underestimate the strength of the webs to transverse forces. Research work on girders with closely spaced transverse stiffeners is available but for such cases, the web plates do not include longitudinal stiffeners. Numerical simulations in previously validated models have been performed in order to gain a phenomenological insight for girders with both types of stiffeners subjected to patch loading. Preliminary results suggest that the resistance of densely stiffened steel girders (both transversally and longitudinally) must be studied and subsequently revised accordingly. In addition, it is pointed out that a certain degree of imperfection sensitivity is inferred from the results. Further studies on this topic are necessary