A Bridge to Somewhere

Your task You are a member of small company that is competing against other regional companies for the right to build a cement based bridge span for a pedestrian walkway over a creek on your school campus.

Outcomes of project You will construct a bid using resources available to you in the classroom. Your bid must include time and cost of materials that you use in your bridge/span Your final submission to be considered for the winning bid will cover a 2ft span and support 30 pounds. You must submit your bid with your structure. The winning bridge/span will be one that is the most cost effective and meets specifications.

Requirements Each team must construct a minimum of 3 separate spans. For each span, your must include: a. Materials (type and quantity) b. Cost & Time c. Data (stress test, weight of span, other structural observations) d. Visual representation of data e. Summary evaluation of each separate span

Prior Teaching Safety: Proper use PPE’s Vocabulary: Composite Tension Stress Strain Distortion Bid Engineering Prior knowledge: Principles of material science, characteristics of concrete, uses of concrete

Young’s Modulus Definition: How much something is going to stretch It was very difficult to measure in this lab! The control and burlap did not flex at all. The welding rods flexed, but when do you measure?

Bridge Designs

Discussion Questions How does the design of the bridge affect the load carrying capacity? How does the distance of the span affect the engineering of the bridge? What might cause a bridge to fail? How does the design of the bridge affect the materials used in the making of the bridge?

Teacher Resources Technology/Unit5-NS.pdf Technology/Unit5-NS.pdf /pdf/mca1.pdf /pdf/mca1.pdf