Week 9 - Bridge Process

Before going into this class, I had no idea what a bridge design is all about. In fact, I didn’t even know what a Truss Bridge was. But as the term progresses, I have learned so much about bridge design. First of all, I now understand that a bridge design requires many calculations and planning ahead. I have learned how to construct a “serviceable” truss bridge via WPBD along with adjusting the members to lower the cost. Then, I was introduced to K’nex—building a more realistic bridge along with calculations. The most helpful calculations that I have learned in this course is the “Method of Joints”. This truss analysis allows me to understand the tension and compression forces, and how they play a major role in the designing process. In addition, online Bridge Design is also a great tool to calculate the tension and compression forces. Finally, I have learned that it is important to make accurate measurements and calculations because a slight calculation error can become a huge problem in the long run.

Last week in class, we worked on our three-foot-long bridge along with the new constraints—hollow by 3 inches wide and 2 inches tall. We constructed two bridges during class, but neither of them turned out well. The goal for this week in class is to redesign and construct a final bridge within the constraints.