Bridge Builder Activity

Introduction:

The West Point Bridge Builder program, is a very flexible program designed to give you the opportunity to design several different bridge styles while concentrating on the actual design process and not the mathematics involved in designing bridges. This will give you a fairly realistic hands on experience to engineering and designing. Use this program to put together what you have learned about bridges.

Good luck and have fun!

Guidelines:

1. Practice:

  • Select a design project
  • Single Span with Anchorage's
  • Select a standard truss template
    • Suspension bridge one
    • Suspension bridge two
  • Click on "finish" to start designing this bridge. This design is just a practice design (why you are using a template) to give you the opportunity to become familiar with how this program works.

2. Challenge:

  • Create a new bridge design.
  • Select a design project.
    • Single Span with Anchorage's
    • Select a standard truss template
  • No template &endash; Make your own bridge design
  • Enter information for title block
  • Enter your name & a name for your bridge
  • Click on "finish" and begin designing your bridge
  • Once your bridge is designed, test it.

Goals:

  • Design a bridge that when tested does not collapse.
  • You can test your bridge and make changes as you feel are necessary (within reason) until you are satisfied with your bridge.
  • Design a bridge that is cost effective.
  • Design a bridge that has aesthetic value.
  • Design a bridge that has the proper style type for the intended use.
  • Design a bridge that has form.
  • Design a bridge that has function.

Criteria for Assessment (Evaluation) - [50 pts. / 10 pts. for each category] :

  • Cost
  • Form
  • Function
  • Design Application (Style Type)
  • Aesthetic Value

When your bridge is finished and you are satisfied with your design print a copy of it and turn it in. Save your project to your Bath LAN account.

 

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