Building BIGDream it, build it, test it!

A unit on bridge construction….and destruction!

Lesson 1: Bridge Basics

There are more than half a million bridges in the United States, and you rely on them everyday to cross obstacles like rivers, streams, valleys, lakes, and even railroad tracks.

But do you know how they work?

Why do they look different from place to place?

Civil Engineering To start our journey into building, we must first

begin to think like civil engineers. Check out The United States Department of Labor

to learn more about Civil Engineering. While exploring this website record the all the

Verbs and Nouns. Civil EngineersVerbs- What they do Nouns-

Repair/ construct/plan/ build Metal/ tractor/ tools/ blueprints

Forces at Work

BONUS! Compression Force: Egg Experiment

How much compression force can a chicken egg withstand?

Lesson 2: Civil Engineering

To start our journey into building, we must first begin to think like civil engineers.

Civil engineers are people who create structures like bridges, buildings, and roads.

They use a thinking process called the ENGINEERING PROCESS

Engineering Process Ask—What is your task? What are the requirements?

Brainstorm—Brainstorm separately first to gather your own individual thoughts. Come together as a group and discuss everyone’s ideas.

Design—Pick out the details from your brainstorming session that the group feels are most valuable in getting the information across clearly to an audience. Sketch out your rough draft and decide roles and responsibilities.

Create—Execute your design plan.

Evaluate & Refine—Decide if any changes need to be made.

Engineering Process

Ask

Brainstorm

DesignCreate

Evaluate & Refine

What is the problem? What are my requirements or

limitations?

Share ideasValue opinions

SketchBuild your bridgesWork as a team

How did it work? Do you need to change anything?

Engineering Process at Work

Gum Drop Challenge Your Challenge:The bridge needs to be able to support 300 grams (120 pennies) As an engineering TEAM work through the engineering PROCESS Problem: A bridge is needed that can span a 6 inch

gorge Brainstorm: Work with your partner to discuss the various

shapes your gumdrop bridge will use. Design: Sketch out preliminary designs Create: Create your gumdrop bridge! You are allowed to

make alterations to your original design.

• Materials: 40 gumdrops – 100 toothpicks

Lesson 3: Engineering Process at Work

Evaluate: We will test your bridges next time we meet. The strength of your bridge will be tested by placing as many penny (cars) on top of your bridge that it can hold when spanning the 6 inch gorge.

An efficiency rating will be determined as well. The weight of your bridge (the amount of materials used) will be a factor. How does this relate to bridge proposals in real life? Do the strongest bridges that use the most materials with the highest cost get built?

Load held in grams(10,000 max) Mass of bridge in grams Final Score to nearest 0.01g

Efficiency=____ _______ _______÷__________ _________=____________ _____

Data AnalysisEvaluate: The strength of your bridge will be tested by placing as many penny (cars) on top of your bridge that it can hold when spanning the 6 inch gorge. Record your results.

Analyze the data. Find the mean (average), median, and mode

Engineering Process at Work

Refine: o Analyze your bridges. What shape do you see over and

over again in the bridges that were able to hold the goal weight?• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QheSSHUbPeE

o Work through the refining process by thinking about the questions on your Gum Drop Challenge pages• What is the problem? • What are my requirements or limitations? • How did it work? • Do I need to change anything?

Lesson 4: Beam and Arch Bridges

Beam and Arch Bridges

BEAM ARCH

ARCH BEAM

Examples of Beam Bridges

Beam Bridge

The most basic type of bridge. It has the most simple design with a horizontal beam, also called the bridge deck, is supported at each end by piers.

The weight of the beam pushes straight down on the piers. The farther apart its piers, the weaker the beam becomes. This is why beam bridges rarely span more than 250 feet between piers.

Arch Bridge It has great natural strength. Thousands of years

ago Romans built arches out of stone. Today, most arch bridges are made of steel or concrete. They can span up to 800 feet!

Examples of Arch Bridges

How does an arch bridge work?

How does an arch bridge work?

Forces at Work

Lesson 5: Truss and Suspension Bridges

Truss and Suspension Bridges

TRUSSSUSPENSION

SUSPENSIONTRUSS

Truss Bridge Consists of an assembly of triangles. Truss

bridges are commonly made from a series of straight, steel bars. Rigid arms extend from both sides of two piers. Diagonal steel tubes project from the top and bottom of each pier. They help to support the central span.

Span up to 1,200 feet

How does a truss bridge work?

Suspension Bridge They can span 2,000 to 7,000 feet! That is

much farther than any other type of bridge! Most suspension bridges have a truss system beneath the roadway to resist bending and twisting.

How does a suspension bridge work?

Suspension Tension and Compression Explanation

Forces Lab

Explore the Forces Lab to learn more about the different factors to consider in designing bridges.

Complete the Edmodo Exit Ticket to assess what you’ve learned.

Lesson 6: BRIDGE CHALLENGE #2

The STRAW BRIDGE!

Engineering Process at Work

Problem: Work as a engineering TEAM and work through the engineering PROCESS to

build a straw bridge that can span a 10 inch gorge!

Materials: 20 straws & a roll of tape Challenge: Your bridge must have a place to securely hold a small cup

in the center of the span. When we test your bridge, the cup will be filled with pennies until the bridge collapses.

That amount of pennies and its cup will be weighed.

Engineering Process at Work

Brainstorm: Work with your partner to discuss the various shapes your straw bridge will use.

Design: Sketch out preliminary designso This step is very important this time!o While you can cut your straws to any length you want, you

will not be given any additional (or replacement) straws even if you accidentally cut them to lengths you don't want. So, think, sketch and measure before you cut. Another point to make: A bundle of straws taped together does not satisfy the "spirit" of this bridge-building activity. However, it is not necessary to have bridges look as if small cars could go over them.

Create: Create your straw bridge! You shouldn’t make too many alterations to your original design this time.

Design Tips Square construction

example:o Pros? Cons?

Triangle construction examples:o Pros? Cons?

Analyze Designs

Analyze Designs Continued…

Engineering Process- Blue=Today

Ask

Brainstorm

DesignCreate

Evaluate & Refine

What is the problem? What are my requirements or

limitations?

Share ideasValue opinions

SketchBuild your bridgesWork as a team

How did it work? Do you need to change anything?

Evaluation Day! Evaluate: The strength of your bridge will be tested by

placing as many penny (cars) on top of your bridge that it can hold when spanning the 10 inch gorge. Record your results.o Analyze the data. Find the mean (average), median, and mode

Refine: o Analyze your bridges. What shape do you see over and over

again in the bridges that were able to hold the goal weight?• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QheSSHUbPeE

o Work through the refining process by thinking about the questions on your Straw Bridge Challenge page.

Lesson 7: Craggy Rock Bridge Challenge

Now that you’ve mastered the bridge basics, test your bridge building skills in the Bridge Challenge!

Craggy Rock is a quickly growing community that needs four new bridges. The community members are very picky about what they want!

Test your engineering skills and try to match the right bridge to the right location. You can only use each bridge type once.

Craggy Rock Challenge

Bridge GameBuild a bridge using the components and the

budget available. Once it is done, click "Test your bridge" to see if it will sustain the weight of the

workers and the cargo. Your workers will use it to get items located at the other side of valley, and

bring them back to the shop. Your goal is to collect all items in each level. Use what you’ve learned to

test your engineering skills!

Bridge Game

Bridge Designs Bridge DesignsCheck out this resource to learn more about different bridge designs. Get inspired! You’ll be creating your own bridges soon!

Lesson 8: Become an Engineer

Creating bridges is utilizing both art and science!o Bridges are beautiful structures that serve a purpose. o If the bridge is pleasing to the eye but is too costly to

make, then the bridge won’t ever be built. o If the bridge is structurally sound, but causes other

issues in the surrounding area with the environment, wildlife, or flow of people, then the bridge won’t be built either.

Before you begin building your bridge, you need to fully understand the meaning of some very important terms so that you can become a successful engineer.

Terms to Know Compression: Squeezing

o Squeezes materials together Tension: Stretching

It stretches materials apart

Bending:o One side squeezes and the other side stretches

Shear:o Causes material to slide past one another in opposite

directions Torsion: Twisting

o An action that twists a material

Examples

compression

tension

bending torsion shearing

Word BankShearing ~ Bending ~

Torsion ~ Compression ~ Tension

Engineering Process Identify the problem

Determine the limitations Material, size, cost, time-frame

Lesson 9: Congratulations!

Your civil engineering firm has been hired to design a bridge for the city of Innovation. Innovation’s main bridge through the city has been determined structurally deficient, and it will to be too costly to bring the bridge up to code.

You have to design the bridge and build a model using Popsicle Sticks, toothpicks, and glue, to present before the community leaders for approval. It must not cost more than the specified amount and can’t exceed the material allotment for the project. Once the design is approved by the president of the firm, you will be given materials (according to the type of bridge the firm choose) to build the model.

Your Task

Your bridge design must meet to following requirements:

•Span across the 30 cm wide Ingenuity River•Cannot exceed 45 cm due to other

infrastructure already built in the area •Must hold 4 lanes of traffic therefore it needs

to be at 7cm ≥ 10 cm wide•Allow for a continuous traffic passage with a

height clearance of 5 cm.

Your Task Continued…

You have been given a budget for building materials of $300,000.

Each popsicle stick will cost your firm $1000. Each toothpick will cost your firm $500.

The initial cost of glue will cost your firm $5000 per bottle, but you may return unused glue at the end of your project for partial refund.

The model cannot use more than:o 100 Popsicle Sticks o 200 Toothpicks

Your Task Continued… Your bridge’s strength will be measured using a

5cm x 5 cm x 2 cm block. There will be a chain hanging from the block to hold weight. Make sure there is an opening for this chain to hang through that is 2 cm x 2 cm.

Your firm must have a completed blue print before you will be allowed to purchase your building materials. You must also complete a daily construction report outline your goals, materials used, and a reflection.

Your Task Continued Take individual span blueprints and tape them to stiff

cardboard. Cover the blueprint with wax paper and tape it lightly to the cardboard. Make sure you write your company name on the designo You can actually glue toothpicks directly to the wax paper. o Overlap toothpicks and make good connections between

toothpicks.o The success of their bridge will be a mixture of design and

attention to detail during construction. Remember:

o Write down the materials you bought in your construction logso If you make modifications to your original design, you must make

note of it in your construction logo Mrs. Burdette, the job site superintendent, must sign off on your

logs DAILY!

Your Task Continued… Once the model is built, the strength and

efficiency will be tested compared to the other model bridges presented to the community leaders. The civil engineering firm with the most efficient bridge will be hired to build the new community bridge. Best of luck!

Please Note Whenever there is a structural change in the

bridge design, the group has to update or draw a new blueprint of the bridge. All of this work should be kept in a portfolio under the group or company name. Daily construction logs must be kept for each engineering firm. Logs include materials bought, used, and modifications made.

Any company that does not turn in their construction logs will not have their design considered for the new community bridge.

 Rubric 5 Points

Design

Drawing of models are neat and legible

Includes the actual distances of the spans and major trusses( in cm)

Three views are drawn to scale, labeled. Side/Top/End view

Visuals include diagrams of the compression and tension forces

Model

Bridge span is at least 30 cm long

Bridge width (roadway) is at least 10 cm

The bridge had a proper opening the allowed for the testing block to be held

Entire cost of bridge did not exceed ____ dollars

Model did not exceed:

____ popsicle sticks, _____ toothpicks, and _____ wire twists

Construction logs were written in daily, included modifications made to the original design, and included a complete tally of all materials bought

Sample Bridge Drawings

Sample Bridge Drawings

Sample Bridge Drawings

Sample Bridge Drawings