Brudaniell

I have a 16' wooden beam across the carport...that was 4' short of the opening, so the contractor put another support post to extend the beam. I want to remove post after I sandwich the 4.75" wide beam with two 8' long steel plates. They would be attached by pass through bolts in the center, and wood bolts along the perimeter. Does this appear to be well engineered? Do I need 1/4" steel plate or will 3/16" suffice?