BRIDGE PROJECT

Engineering is a term that covers a broad spectrum of jobs that are done everyday that provide us with the necessities and luxuries of everyday life. In the modern world, without engineers, it is unlikely that you would have any of the necessities, or luxuries, that you take for granted in everyday life.

Most people are aware that engineers design things. But in reality a large percentage of the engineers in America do not make blueprints or drawing as the main task in their jobs. Other jobs engineers do include planning, estimating, forecasting, budgeting, analyzing, and managing all forms of projects that ultimately provide goods or services to the general public. It should not be a surprise then that one of the most common types of Engineers is called a Project Engineer.

Project Engineers create detailed plans that explain all the steps necessary to get materials, check them, manufacture or build the project, test them for quality,  deliver them to the customer or market, and maintain them after delivery for their usable lifetime.

For large projects dozens of engineers work as a team to accomplish these and other essential tasks. Without them even the best design would never see its way to completion.

Another role that engineers play is that of detective. When designs fail in the field while in use engineers must conduct intensive investigations to determine the causes of the failure. When the Freeways collapsed after the Northridge Earthquake in the early 1990s dozens of engineers from many different companies and government agencies were tasked with  determining why they fell down, and how to prevent such disasters in the future. Copies of their finding for the Northridge Quake can be found at northridge earthquake failure analysis.

• YOUR PROJECT

In the next few weeks you will work on a new project. This project will help you become familiar with physics and engineering concepts and terminology.

Read all the instructions before you begin. Click on the following links for details about the project

• BRIDGE BUILDING SCIENCE

• GRADE

• BLUEPRINT

• BRIDGE

• BRIDGE GRADING CRITERIA

• REPORT

• REPORT GRADING CRITERIA

• JOURNAL

• MS WORD - bridge.doc

• Adobe PDF  bridge.pdf

GRADE

There will be four grades for this project:

• Blue print

• Bridge

• River Report

• Journal

1. The grade for the blue print of the bridge will be based on the design, measurements, and proportions.

2. The bridge grade will be based on the strength, design, appearance, on following the building instructions, and on using the suggested materials.

3. The grade for the report will be based on your research of the river and on whether you have included all the points mentioned on the outline or not.

4. The grade for the journal will be based on daily entry (every time you build), on pictures of the different stages of building, photo captions, stating problems encountered, solutions to the problems, and other observations.

REPORT

Materials

•  report folder

• plastic cover and three brackets        

•  Computer

•  books/maps/encyclopedias/internet      

• paper

1. Select a river in the United States or any other country that you wish to build a bridge over. You are the engineer that has been chosen for this project.

2. Find as much information about the river as possible (name of river, location, history, width, length, depth, important cities, valleys, lakes, and mountains around it, its importance in economy, transportation, etc. the source, and the mouth of the river).

3. Decide where the best location to build the bridge is by examining the geography of the area, the width, and depth of the river. Explain why you chose this particular location and type of bridge.

4. Explain how the bridge is going to affect the given area. Consider how it will affect the ecology, the economy, and the sociology of the area. (You may ask your social studies teacher for guidelines).

5. Type the Report and include the following:

a) A map of the state or country with your river.

b) Label the site at which bridge is to be built.

c) Information about the river as described above in 1-3.

d) A paragraph of what you learned from this project, including building the bridge.

e) A Bibliography with all the sources you used. (Use encyclopedias, books, maps, the Internet).

BRIDGE/RIVER REPORT

(5 points each for total of 100 points)

1. Name of river                                                                      

2. Location of river (state or country)                                       

3. Width; length; depth or volume of water (flow rate)  

4. Source and mouth of river                                                    

5. Important cities                                                                    

6. Valleys                                                                             

7. Lakes /Tributaries                                                              

8. Mountains/Canyons                                               

9. History of river or area                                                       

10. Importance of river on the economy of the area                 

11. Importance of river on transportation                                  

12. Location of your bridge                                                     

13. Width of river at bridge location                                        

14. Effect of bridge on the ecology                                          

15. Effect of bridge on the economy of the area                      

16. Effect of bridge on transportation and sociology                

17. Map                                                                                  

18. Location of bridge on map                                     

19. Paragraph on what you learned                                          

20. Bibliography

 

                                                                    

 5% point reduction per day late

BRIDGE BLUE PRINT

Materials

• graph paper (provided by teacher)       

• metric ruler

• bridge diagram handout

• pencil/eraser

1. Choose one of the types of bridges we have studied in class and design your bridge on graph paper provided.

2. Use measurements to scale (use metric measurements). Do not exceed

50 centimeters of length. This part will be done in class so there will be more guidelines

from the teacher.

BRIDGE

Materials for Bridge

•  graph paper

• 2-3 boxes of flat toothpicks

•  ruler

•  tape

•  pencil  

• white / wood glue I glue gun     

•  wax paper       

•  eraser

1. Toothpicks should not overlap each other more than 1/3 at any time.

2. Test different glues on samples and decide on the one that works best for you. Glue- gun may be used under supervision.

3. The bridge should not be laminated with glue because it will be excluded from competition and will lower the grade. (Laminated means covered completely with a layer of glue).

4, There will be a contest for the “Best Design”, “The Strongest Bridge”, “Most Original”, etc.

5. Parents are welcome to help with this project and give architectural advise to the students.

In your Report, which should be typed, include the following:

a) A map of the state or country with your river.

b) Label the site at which bridge is to be built.

c) Information about the river as described above in 1-3.

d) A paragraph of what you learned from this project, including building the bridge. e) A Bibliography with all the sources you used. (Use encyclopedias, books, maps, the Internet).

JOURNAL

• Materials

• Blank sheets of white paper 8112” by 11” folded in half

•  glue

• Cardboard

•  Needle and thread

• Instructions

Make a small journal by using folded blank sheets of paper (5 1/2” x 8 1/2”) and cardboard or thicker paper for a cover. Sew it down the middle, decorate the cover. Samples are available in class for better understanding.

Keep a daily journal of the building of your bridge and include the following:

1) Date of each day you work on the bridge and length of time.

2) What part of bridge you work on.

3) Problems encountered each day and how you solved them, other observations.

4) Photos of each stage.

5) Use captions under photos.

TOP   GRADE   BLUEPRINT   BRIDGE   BRIDGE GRADING CRITERIA   REPORT   REPORT GRADING CRITERIA   JOURNAL