Bridge Project

For the bridge project we had to build a bridge that was at least 3'' wide and 16'' long and made out of coffee stirrers. After done being built we would see how much they can hold.

Bridge-building this year was a lot more different than I thought it would be, maybe it’s because this project wasn’t going to be a huge exhibition like last year or maybe because this year we could do it alone or with partners of our choosing. Either way I had a lot of fun. On a bridge, forces are distributed all over and those forces tend to concentrate on the corners of bridges which causes them to cave in and break unlike an arc which doesn’t have an edge. Bridges aim to be strong but efficient and lightweight I think the reason we rely on efficiency rather than strength is because from the day we’re born we’re taught to do the best we can with the least we have, we were raised to be resourceful. In other words if bridges were based on pure strength then we’d be wasting a lot of materials. My bridge weighed 97.8 grams and held 130 pounds (its strength to weight ratio was 680) and I think the reason it was so strong was both because it was an arc and me and my partner spent a lot of time on it. In the end I think a bridge’s strength relies both shape and craftsmanship.