A Comparative Analysis of Different Bridge Spans

Overview

Objectives/Goals The goal of my project was to find out what types of bridges can hold the most weight, and which are best for different distances. Methods/Materials Popsicle sticks, glue, wire, and string were used to build a truss, cantilever, and suspension bridge. Each of the nine bridges were placed across two tables, and below them I suspended a bucket, to which I added weight until the bridge broke. I then weighed the bucket to see how much weight each bridge had held. I repeated this process three times for each bridge. Results My results show that the Suspension Bridge held, on average 14.6 pounds, the truss 11.3 pounds, and the cantilever 8 pounds. Conclusions/Discussion My experiments proved my hypothesis right, I thought that the suspension bridge would hold the most weight, the cantilever the least, and the truss somewhere in the middle. I think that the Suspension bridge could be used for carrying heavy loads a far distance, where as the truss or cantilever would be better to be used for shorter distances or lighter loads.

Competition history

• CSEF 2014 Applied Mechanics & Structures · Entry J0327

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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