River Bridge Lab Report

Introduction: The bridge lab project was based on the given scenario in which a reliable bridge needed to be constructed over a river in order to alleviate traffic. The objective was to design a bridge to relieve traffic flow that was also safe, cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing. The constraints for this project included the budget and minimum height and width requirements. The max budget to purchase wood was $200, the minimum height at all points of the bridge was 3 inches, the minimum width of the bridge was 4 inches, and the final bridge had to accommodate a 3”x 3” platform in order to test bridge deflection at the end of construction. The following lab report shadows the steps for design evaluations by providing background information, …show more content…
That design was then optimized for the final score in order to determine the ideal contour score are maximum deflection score. After examining the outcome of the bridge, the design could have been improved by adding additional supporting members at intervals between the top and bottom portions in order to distribute the force from the 3”x 3” platform straight down as well as to the side sloping members. Another solution would have been to alter the design and have the bridge shaped more like a rectangular prism than a trapezoidal prism by changing the connections from the top and bottom portions to meet at 90 degree angles instead of the 63.4 degree angles. Future bridge designers should take note to predict the forces that act upon the bridge members and act accordingly by disbursing the forces evenly. They should also use precision in building in order to produce clean connections between members. The bridge design project taught the importance of precision, both in construction and in engineering design accuracy, distribution of total force, and the engineering design method in