Bridge Building

Name:___________________ __________________ period:__________________

There are more than half a million bridges in the United States, and you rely on them every day to cross obstacles like streams, valleys, and railroad tracks. But do you kno ho they ork! "r hy some bridges are curved hile others are straight! #ngineers must consider many things $$ like the distance to be spanned and the types of materials available $$ before determining the si%e, shape, and overall look of a bridge. Since ancient times, engineers have designed three ma&or types of bridges to ithstand all forces of nature. Why do we need bridges? Bridges make it possible to cross from one shore of a river to another. 'n earlier times, bridges allo ed trade bet een farmers, and the movement of goods across a natural divide. #arly man often placed stepping$stones in the narro sections of small streams as a ay to get to the other side. 't is easy to see ho a bridge might develop, using stepping$stones as a base for logs or planks. The earliest bridge as probably a toppled tree that had fallen across a nearby stream. Are bridges always over water? No, they can be over other roads, over rail ays, over deep gulleys. (nd they are not only for cars and people. )ooden trestle bridges ere essential to the passage of the rail ay through the mountains in estern *anada. Bridges over rivers allo the ater to pass easily through the +holes in the bridge.+ Bridges allo traffic over obstacles ,rivers, roads, ravines-, ithout changing the obstacle.

The beam bridge... *onsists of a hori%ontal beam supported at each end by piers. The eight of the beam pushes straight do n on the piers. The farther apart its piers, the eaker the beam becomes. This is hy beam bridges rarely span more than ./0 feet.

The ord +beam+ comes from the old #nglish logs.

ord for tree. The first bridges

ere probably

+1ier+: the bridge support 2o underneath.

high do you make the piers! That depends on

hat has to travel

+Span+: the distance pier to pier the span depends on the strength and eight of the beam. The thicker the material, the more eight it ill hold. The thicker the material, the further the span. But, the thicker the material, the heavier the bridge, so the more it takes to hold it up. ( very strong beam could be too heavy for the +span+ and sag into the river. )e can lighten the beam by using a truss.
Beam Bridge: Forces )hen something pushes do n on the beam, the beam bends. 'ts top edge is pushed together, and its bottom edge is pulled apart. *an e make the span longer another ay! There is a type of Beam Bridge called a cantilever. 't is related to a lever. The truss bridge...consists of an assembly of triangles. Truss bridges are commonly made from a series of straight, steel bars. The 3irth of 3orth Bridge in Scotland is a cantilever bridge, a comple4 version of the truss bridge. Rigid arms e4tend from both sides of t o piers. 5iagonal steel tubes, pro&ecting from the top and bottom of each pier, hold the arms in place. The arms that pro&ect to ard the middle are only supported on one side, like really strong diving boards. These +diving boards,+ called cantilever arms, support a third, central span. Truss Bridge: Forces #very bar in this cantilever bridge e4periences either a pushing or pulling force. The bars rarely bend. This is hy cantilever bridges can span farther than beam bridges.

The arch bridge...has great natural strength. Thousands of years ago, 6omans built arches out of stone. Today, most arch bridges are made of steel or concrete, and they can span up to 700 feet. Arch Bridge: Forces The arch is s8uee%ed together, and this s8uee%ing force is carried out ard along the curve to the supports at each end. The supports, called abutments, push back on the arch and prevent the ends of the arch from spreading apart.

The suspension bridge... *an span .,000 to 9,000 feet $$ ay farther than any other type of bridge: ;ost suspension bridges have a truss system beneath the road ay to resist bending and t isting. Suspension Bridge: Forces 'n all suspension bridges, the road ay hangs from massive steel cables, hich are draped over t o towers and secured into solid concrete blocks, called anchorages, on both ends of the bridge. The cars push do n on the road ay, but because the road ay is suspended, the cables transfer the load into compression in the t o to ers. The t o to ers support most of the bridge<s eight.

The biggest difference bet een the four is the distances they can cross in a single span. ( span is the distance bet een t o bridge supports, hether they are columns, to ers or the all of a canyon. ( modern beam bridge, for instance, is likely to span a distance of up to .00 feet ,=0 meters-, hile a modern arch can safely span up to 700 or >,000 feet ,.?0 to @00 m-. ( suspension bridge, the pinnacle of bridge technology, is capable of spanning up to 9,000 feet ,.,>00 m-. )hat allo s an arch bridge to span greater distances than a beam bridge, or a suspension bridge to span a distance seven times that of an arch bridge! The ans er lies in ho each bridge type deals ith t o important forces called compression and tension: ompression is a force that acts to compress or shorten the thing it is acting on. Tension is a force that acts to e4pand or lengthen the thing it is acting on.

( simple, everyday e4ample of compression and tension is a spring. )hen e press do n, or push the t o ends of the spring together, e compress it. The force of compression shortens the spring. )hen e pull up, or pull apart the t o ends, e create tension in the spring. The force of tension lengthens the spring. *ompression and tension are present in all bridges, and it<s the &ob of the bridge design to handle these forces ithout buckling or snapping. Buc!ling is hat happens hen the force of compression overcomes an ob&ect<s ability to handle compression, and snapping is hat happens hen the force of tension overcomes an ob&ect<s ability to handle tension. The best ay to deal ith these forces is to either dissipate them or transfer them. To dissipate force is to spread it out over a greater area, so that no one spot has to bear the brunt of the concentrated force. To transfer force is to move it from an area of eakness to an area of strength, an area designed to handle the force. (n arch bridge is a good e4ample of dissipation, hile a suspension bridge is a good e4ample of transference.

What shapes are the strongest? S8uares Triangles Tubes )ith cardboard sticks and t o pronged pins, build a s8uare and a triangle. Try pushing the sides together. The triangle resists, but the s8uare collapses, unless the angles are braced. Aou could create a brace for the s8uare by constructing a diagonal $ hich, in effect, is making t o triangles. The triangle is the strongest shape. Triangles are used to make a very strong form called a truss. (nother very strong shape is a tube. Think about bicycle frames and bamboo shoots. Try this: *an you make a sheet of ne spaper hold up a book! Try folding it t ice length ise and rolling it into a tube. This ne spaper tube is strong enough to hold up a book.

"oes the bridge material ma!e a difference in the strength of the bridge? Shape is important for strength, but so is the material. ( steel beam ill hold more beam of e8uivalent si%e. Today, bridges are built of steel and reinforced concrete. eight that a ooden

6einforced concrete beams are created by placing steel bars into the concrete before it hardens. This skeleton of steel helps the concrete ithstand the tension that develops hen long, unsupported beams are sub&ected to bending under heavy eight loads. The *N To er, in Toronto, at //@ meters, is still the tallest free$standing structure in the orld. 2o as this to er built!

*onstruction engineers used a slip form. Bertical rods ere put into placeC a mould as built around these rods and the concrete as poured. )hen the concrete had hardened enough to support eight, the mould ,slip form- as pushed vertically up the rods, and more concrete as poured. This process as repeated again and again until the desired height as attained.

Another famous tower

and another

ompression #$%uee&ing': _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ The lo er columns of a skyscraper are s8uee%ed by the heavy eight above them. This s8uee%ing force is called compression. Tension #$tretching' : ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ The eight of the road ay and all the cars traveling on it pull on the vertical cables in this suspension bridge. The cables are in tension. Bending: _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ The top side of the metal bar is pulled apart in tension, and the bottom side is s8uee%ed together in compression. This combination of opposite forces produces an action called bending. $hear #$liding-: ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 5uring an earth8uake, parts of this road ay slid in opposite directions. This sliding action is called shear. Torsion #Twisting': _____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 'n >D?0, the Tacoma Narro s Bridge t isted violently in strong inds and collapsed. The t isting force that tore this bridge in half is called torsion. dec!: ________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ engineer: _____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ girder: _______________________________________________________________ span: ________________________________________________________________ stress: ______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ truss: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

Aou ill be using the )est 1oint Bridge 5esigner to 5esign a Bridge that ill span a distance. Before you start to design on the computer you must come up ith @ alternative plans for your bridge. "n the ne4t pages using the basic diagram, dra out three different bridge plans that you may ant to use for you bridge. (fter you practice ith the bridge building program you can rite do n hich bridge you decided to use.
Remember the shapes and metal types spo!en about earlier in this pac!et(
Aour Bridge ill *ross this gap Eook at the picture and fill in the &oints and members for your bridge.

( &oint acts like a &oint in your elbo it attaches the top portion of your arm to the bottom portion. ( member is the beams hich make up the bridge attached by the &oints.

5esign >

5esign .

5esign @

Wor!ing with the West )oint Bridge "esigner:

Aou ill be selecting the smallest, simple span bridge. The concrete, asphalt and bottom &oints of the bridge ill already be there &ust like for your alternative dra ings.
There ill be four buttons to choose from for your design tools. The circle is the &oint button. Aou must lay out all of the &oints needed first, before any members can be selected. The ne4t button a bar is for members. Aou click on a &oint and then connect them ith members. ( &oint must be attached to a member. Aou cannot have members unattached to &oints or &oints unattached to members. The arro button is to select items you can select them and press the delete button or select and then move them or change to thickness or metal type, or select multiple &oints and members to delete them or change metal types. The last button is an eraser, to erase anything you no longer ish to have on your design.

Aou can select multiple or single members and then increase the thickness or type of metal used.

After you have a completed design you can then test it(

Aou can select the tur8uoise testing button to drive a simulated truck over your bridge design. 'f there is a problem you can go back to the design screen by selecting the button ne4t to it ith drafting tools on it.

The *2(EE#NF#: Aou must design a bridge that ill cross the span ork ith the truck simulation and be under G=,000: (t the bottom of the design page the cost ill be sho n. (fter *oming up ith a orkable design 1rint: Aou ill hand this design on to your teacher ho ill take that design and blo it up to make it big enough to test in class ith the bridge crusher: Using your . blo n up templates you are going to build your bridge out of H inch pine. )e ill build the . sides like your design and the top and bottom sections to attach them. Aou ill then test all bridges in class by crushing them. ;ay the best bridge E'B#:

(3T#6 IU#ST'"NS: Aour breaking eight! _______________ lbs. )hich design did you finally choose out of your three originals! )hy!

)hat as the hardest thing about this pro&ect!

'f you could build another bridge )hy!

hat

ould you change about your design!

ompression #$%uee&ing': the act of pressing or pushing. *ompression is a force that s8uee%es a material together. )hen a material is in compression, it tends to become shorter. The lo er columns of a skyscraper are s8uee%ed by the heavy s8uee%ing force is called compression. eight above them. This

Tension #$tretching' : the act of stretching or pulling . ( force that stretches a material apart. )hen a material is in tension, it tends to become longer. Tension$ The eight of the road ay and all the cars traveling on it pull on the vertical cables in this suspension bridge. The cables are in tension. Bending: )hen a straight material becomes curved, one side s8uee%es together and the other side stretches apart. This action is called bending. The top side of the metal bar is pulled apart in tension, and the bottom side is s8uee%ed together in compression. This combination of opposite forces produces an action called bending. $hear #$liding-: ( force that causes parts of a material to slide past one another in opposite directions. 5uring an earth8uake, parts of this road ay slid in opposite directions. This sliding action is called shear. Torsion #Twisting': is an action that t ists a material. 'n >D?0, the Tacoma Narro s Bridge t isted violently in strong t isting force that tore this bridge in half is called torsion. dec!: platform e4tending hori%ontally that often carries the road ay engineer: person ho uses mathematical and scientific principles to design and construct efficient structures and machines girder: a hori%ontal beam used for support inds and collapsed. The

span: portion of a bridge bet een t o supports stress: the force acting on a body divided by the body<s cross$sectional area. 3orce per unit area. truss: a rigid triangular frame ork