Last week in class we used our 24" bridge as a starting point for the construction of our 36" bridge. We finished constructing the bridge and we tested it out two different times. We had a similar problem both times. The bridge kept failing in the middle, mostly on top. We did not have a triangle up there because at first we wouldn't have been able to fit the hook through the top, and then we wouldn't have been able to add any weight onto the bridge. However, at the end of class I found a way to form triangles on the top while having the hook fit through the top of the bridge. This should hopefully allow our bridge to hold more weight as it will keep the middle of the bridge more sturdy. We will make this addition during our next class. We will also be officially testing our bridge in the contest next class. We can only hope for the best. So far our 36" bridge has been able to hold 32 lbs. I am hoping we can try to near somewhere around 40 lbs this time. Holding up over 30 lbs last week though was probably our major accomplishment of the week.
I have learned a whole lot about bridges from this design lab, especially since I knew nothing about building a bridge previously. The one thing I learned the most about was compression and tension. I learned where most of the tension and compression are on the bridge and the importance of the ratios for each beam. WPBD probably taught me the most as it gave me the most information on my bridge while I was building it. This has given me great insight on how to build a bridge, and hopefully this knowledge can help me build other structures in the future.
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