Yeah, basically i have this project due in about 3 weeks and what I have to do is build a bridge using Popsicle sticks and white glue (no other glues). I'm not too sure what do and I'm pretty sure someone in here has done something similar to this. There aren't that many rules except that the bridge is going to be placed between a 30cm canyon which will be 2 desks and the bridge can't be more than 40cm long x 12cm wide x 30 cm high (the smaller we can make it the stronger it will be I assume). It also has to have a clearance of 8 cm by 8cm and it cant have any road bed and nothing can stretch across the bottom or before 8cm above the lowest point on the bridge. It can't weigh more than 100g and 60 sticks is about 85 grams. It's going to have weight pulling it down not put on top of it by having a metal rob places going across the roadbed and then we'll hang weights an what ever bridge hold the most gets the best mark. If u wanna help give me some advice anything (serious) would be appreciated!
Try googling west point bridge design, it may help you out some. It's a free download.
Well, me and a friend did this a few years ago and set the record in our school....damn bridge held 106 pound or so.
Design?
Triangls, lots of em.
/_\/_\/_\ - Side
__________
__<___>__ - Bottom view (< and > are 3 sticks glued in a triangle formation
Every place you connect an end of a stick to another end, glue it, let it dry and glue it again. 3 weeks you say? If you start building it soon, glue the connection points every day. It helps, a lot.
Design?
Triangls, lots of em.
/_\/_\/_\ - Side
__________
__<___>__ - Bottom view (< and > are 3 sticks glued in a triangle formation
Every place you connect an end of a stick to another end, glue it, let it dry and glue it again. 3 weeks you say? If you start building it soon, glue the connection points every day. It helps, a lot.
We had to use toothpicks. That project was a SOB. The design of the bridge sucked but it held 7500 grams when it was only required to hold 1500.
triangles, triangles are the strongest architectural structure, take four pieces of wood and four nails and make a square, then pick it up and twist it, it will flop all over the place. three pieces of wood and three nails, it's not going anywhere until the wood itself breaks
if you can make the weight hang so it actually pushes two legs of the triangles together, like a roman arch, this will strengthen the triangles further
if you can make the weight hang so it actually pushes two legs of the triangles together, like a roman arch, this will strengthen the triangles further
i had to make one a while ago and totally owned the rest of the class. mine was 150g (on average 100g less than everyone elses) and it held 70kg (which was >20kg better than the next person) i cant remember how many sticks, but heres some pics:
i recomend building a simple truss design with the sticks layered inside. get some good glue and start soon so you can build it in parts then put the two sides together.
i recomend building a simple truss design with the sticks layered inside. get some good glue and start soon so you can build it in parts then put the two sides together.
I had to do this in 7th grade. (3 years ago, oh my) Anyways, I made a suspension bridge..like the night before (procastination ) It sux0red but I got a B ^-^
Triangles will be beneficial, they will support the most weight.Prodie wrote:
Well, me and a friend did this a few years ago and set the record in our school....damn bridge held 106 pound or so.
Design?
Triangls, lots of em.
/_\/_\/_\ - Side
__________
__<___>__ - Bottom view (< and > are 3 sticks glued in a triangle formation
Every place you connect an end of a stick to another end, glue it, let it dry and glue it again. 3 weeks you say? If you start building it soon, glue the connection points every day. It helps, a lot.
Damn...why couldnt this project be what I had to do my freshman year in high school. We had to build a pick-nic table shelter. Like what you would see at a park over the top of pick-nic tables. Ours set the record, held 1200+ pounds. I say 1200+, because we only had enough stuff to measure up to 1200, everything else we stacked on we didnt have a weight of the object...we just started piling shit on it....and then ran out of stuff and the thing never collapsed. Ive got a pic of it somewhere........*scratches head*
Yeah, use a good quality glue as well, dont use the cheap shit you can get at the local flea market. Use good stuff. Visit a hobby store if you have to, they will have some good quality white glue there I would imagine.
Last edited by {BMF}*Frank_The_Tank (2006-11-01 19:28:04)
How about a popsicle stick castle and trebuchet!? And there is even a drawbridge
I had to do something similar to this in 8th grade shop class, except we used balsa wood. And we had to have a square hole in the center of our bridge that a rod would hang from and that is how the weight was measured. One kid had a bridge so strong that it actually broke one of the 2 tables it was suspended from. I can't really give you any advice though, except study the picture of the bridge that has been shown, it appears to be a very good design.
I had to do something similar to this in 8th grade shop class, except we used balsa wood. And we had to have a square hole in the center of our bridge that a rod would hang from and that is how the weight was measured. One kid had a bridge so strong that it actually broke one of the 2 tables it was suspended from. I can't really give you any advice though, except study the picture of the bridge that has been shown, it appears to be a very good design.