Bridge Challenge

For my final project, I chose to construct a bridge out of Popsicle sticks, and make it able to hold up to as much force as possible, and a seismograph that goes along with it. For this challenge I was only allowed to use 120 popsicle sticks, and they could not completely overlap on each other.

In this project we had to learn about the different types of bridges and how they are able to support so much weight. One main thing that we studied was trusses and how these triangular shaped structures are able to hold tremendous amounts of weight, and stand up to these forces over many years of wear.

The goals of this project were to apply what we had learned about these structures and create a bridge that will be tested for its strength.

The design that I chose to build was kind of a basic design making extensive use of trusses on the sides. For the top and bottom I used a simple ladder like design. For this bridge, I only built it out of 60 or so popsicle sticks, making it weigh about 100 grams. Surprisingly it was able to withstand 52 kilograms of force before becoming a very cinematic explosion of popsicle sticks.

When seeing the bridge break all at once, we figured that this could mean many parts of the bridge all failed at once, meaning there was no main weak point in the structure, making this a fairly good design. \

If I were to redesign this bridge, I would add more supports on the top and bottom, as they did not seem to hold very well against resistance. Also we could have added more trusses by making them more narrow, possibly increasing the strength

For resources we have materials, white glue and 120 popsicle sticks to work with. Time, we had around 2 weeks of 70 minutes a day in class to work. People, just me and Enrico working on the bridge. Energy, the power of coffee keeping me working.

The biggest challenge was definitely completing the bridge on time. It became very tedious as I glued a couple parts and them had to wait for the glue to dry before more parts could be added on. The last 2 days were quite a struggle against time for me.

From the project I learned about all types of bridges and the amazing strength that trusses can bring to a bridge. Most importantly managing time was a very big part in this project, and I think this helped teach me how having two people can really help save a lot of time.