Jake Broughton's Bridge project A block

The bridge project was part of the 1st semester final in which we had to build an certain bridge design using materials such as balsa wood and glue. It had to withstand an amount of load that was distributed towards the center of the structure. The bridge would hold as much as possible until it collapsed into the bucket below.

My design took a lot of balsa wood. Every stick that was given to me was used in the whole design. The framework of my bridge design took a lot of tedious patients and caution. In my bridge i had several of the "king posts" truss designs installed into the center refuge of the structure. Different from most other designs made by the class, my bridge held a significant amount of weight however not the most.

My bridge design was a huge success. Although it did not hold the most weight, it demonstrated the errors and the ways i could of done a better job. My bridge could of done better because of where i specifically placed my balsa wood. I could of placed a lot more on the base where the bucket with the load was placed. There, the bridge could of done a more significant job of holding much more load.

I have learned much from this building experience. It gave me a perspective of what the civil engineers do in the real world, their steps to solve the problem and then completion. The engineer always deciphers the weaknesses, pros and cons, etc. before performing their tasks. It also took a large amount of time and patience to build. Since you had to be precise in where your parts were placed.

This project should be a definite in being one of the projects proposed for next year's intro to engineering classes!