bridge building

[MJ300]

Well got another physics project for you guys to brainstorm ideas for. We're done with the egg drop (mine survived BTW :brows: ) now we're moving on to desgning and building bridges. So far the only guidelines are that they can only be made from popsicle sticks and Elmer's white glue. The obvious goal is to make the lightest bridge to support the most weight. You guys haven't let me down yet, so all ideas are welcome!

[Pete M]

How far is the span? I've never built one with no rules but the building materials. There was always a limiting factor such as number of toothpicks you can use, or building the lightest bridge that can hold up X number of pounds, etc.

[SuperWade2]

 

http://www.garrettsbridges.com/

[Akula69]

My daughter had the same project, but she could only use toothpicks. My answer to that was to start about 1 week early and glue 4 toothpicks together in a bundle. Then, after they were dry I used the bundles to make a trestle type bridge (like for a railroad). it was a rectangle that was comprised of 4 sides with cross hatched support menbers on all 4. I made 'beams' of the bundles as well for support at the bottom, and put 'retaining plates' at each intersection. it weighted 6.8 oz. when done.

 

The bridge was suspended between two desks and regular barbell weights were suspended from it's center. To get an 'A' the bridge had to hold up 3 times it's own weight...the version she submitted held up 18 pounds before one of the supports snapped. :D

 

PM me if you want the pictures.

[MrSimon]

Are you allowed to cut the sticks?

[Sir Sam]

Consider making an interlocked popsicle stick "beam" use the sticks as the substrate.

 

between two beams make a truss to bear the wieght

[1990 Pioneer 4x4]

Early on in an architecture program, we had a similar task (without many parameters). I simply made a glue lam beam that was trussed on the underside, much like the picture above, but with MUCH more glue. While everyone else was building these pretty reconstructed bridges from photos, I stayed on track and won the competition. :D

[dakineJ]

Early on in an architecture program, we had a similar task (without many parameters). I simply made a glue lam beam that was trussed on the underside, much like the picture above, but with MUCH more glue. While everyone else was building these pretty reconstructed bridges from photos, I stayed on track and won the competition. :D

 

Ya,I was gonna say if you could cut the ends square,just glue 'em up and clamp.You,d have a decent glue lam.