Bridges
|
Bridgers
Co.
|
The grade sevens competed in a toothpick bridge building
competition. Each division was split into 5 or 6 teams. The teams
worked together to try to create the strongest bridge with the best
design. Members of each team were given the jobs of Project Director,
Carpenter, Architect, Accountant, and Transportation Chief. They were
given a time period of 2 weeks. Everyone started off with a beginning
amount of $1,500,000. They were competing for the prizes of Strongest
Bridge, Best Bridge Design, Most Economical Bridge. The bridges had to
be a certain height and a certain width. On March 15, the bridge teams
got together for the competition. Mr. Ewert tested the strength of each
bridge by hanging a bucket filled with weights on a strong point, until
it broke. There were six bridges left at the front table that were
chosen for Best Bridge Design. They were destroyed last. The best
bridge was allowed to remain intact. It was a very good experience for
everybody, and we had fun watching all the bridges break.
Click on these bridges to see the movie page of
all bridges being tested.
|
|
Kawaii
Inco Bridge
|
Konoha
Bridge
|
Pro
Bridges Co.
|
Happy-Go-Lucky
Bridges
|
|
Bridges
"R" Us
|
The
TipTop Bridge Company
|
Five
Stars Bridge Works
|
Westcoast
Bridges
|
|
International
Overseas Co.
|
BridgeWorks
Co-op
|
Architect's
World
|
The
Pros
|
|
The
Royal Bridge Company
|
M.J.E.J.C.
Corporation
|
The
Golden Bridge Company
|
Red
Dragon Bridges Co.
|
|
What I Learned About Bridges
I am going to
tell you the things I learned while building bridges and some things
that make it stronger.
One
of the things that make a bridge stronger is the arch. The arch
is a half oval shape. It can be below, on top or in the middle of
the road bed. Arches are strong because they will help the road
bed not to collapse as easily. It won't fall inward or outward.
Another
thing is the bridge piers. The piers are what support the bridge
on the ends. Piers act like weights on the two ends of the bridge.
They basically hold the bridge up. Piers also have to be strong;
otherwise the bridge would just fall down.
Trusses
are also very important because trusses are what strengthen the
joints and the entire thing! Well, most of the entire thing. Trusses
are basically beams with triangles in them. Keep in mind that the
equilateral triangle makes the strongest kind of truss.
One
thing I picked up is the phrase form and function. It basically
means if it looks good it probably works well.
|
What I Learned about Bridges
I learned that
the strongest shape to use in a truss is the equilateral triangle.
The other two trangles aren't as strong. Other shapes like the square
are only strong at the corners. Also, if you put triangles into
any beam it will get stronger. The equilateral triangle is strong
because the sides are the same length and also its interior angles
(60 degrees) are very powerful.
The
bridge should look nice, it should be straight and clean. It shouldn't
be crooked or be made carelessly. Which would you rather cross,
a crooked, broken bridge or a clean and perfect bridge? If
the bridge is crooked it could fall over. If you're careless
and forget to glue it properly the bridge will be weak.
In
any project you need teamwork. If you squabble about things that
don't matter you don't get the work done. As they say, time is money.
There should be constant communication so the workers know what
to do because if a worker works on his/her own they sometimes get
the information wrong when they think it was right. Always
take opinions into consideration because sometimes people have good
ideas. Always respect those higher than you and be kind to those
lower than you.
|
|
|
|
This is Mr. Ewert sitting on a chair putting weights into a bucket that
were hung under the bridge because he likes to break things.
I'm just
kidding, he just wants to see how much the bridge can hold until it
breaks. Beside Mr. Ewert is Mr. Biln,
and he's videotaping it so he can
go home, watch it again and laugh at the bridges that are now broken.
Five Star Bridge Works: Cheryl Sing, Vicki Wu, Anthony Cheung, Andy
Choo, and Johnny Pham (holding the bridge)
all worked very hard to build
the overall best and strongest bridge in Div 1. This bridge held 4 kg.
Bridges �R� Us: Stephanie Lin, Winston Liang, Benton Li, Mandy Jiang,
Max Miller, and Jennifer Lin
won an award for the best bridge design in
Div. 2. If you look very closely you will be able to see many different
colors and stars on it .
M.J.E.J.C. Corporation: Jeanny Cao, Jack Chen, Ernest Li, Melson
Dionglay, and Christina Cabalan
also won the best bridge design but in
Div.3. This bridge looks very simple but the structure is the best out
of their division.
