what is the best design for a popsicle stick bridge?

Question

i am making a popsicle stick bridge and i can only use 50 sticks! the bridge is being made to see how much wieght it can hold....i need help!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Well here im onlya freshman in my computers class. but i has a similar project laste year in my scince class. and one thing that i observed when i compared my bridge to my classmates', is that triangles are a key factor. i rememebr hearing that traingles are on of the strongest shapes and can distribute wieght equally. i hope this helps

Answer 2

Popsicle Stick Bridge Design

Answer 3

Popsicle Bridge Design

Answer 4

A bridge needs to be high in tensile strength on the bottom and high in compressive strength on the top. Seeing as how your main problem will be tensile because of the nature of your project with popsicle sticks, that would be your main problem. However, because this is such a rudimentary structure, the strength of your bridge will mostly come from the quality of your building (pretty much how well you glue your sticks together and how you do it). I would say, depending on the length of your bridge you need, build a bridge like this:

Design: A truss bridge. For your situation probably a trapezoidal shape: /\/\/\/\/\/\ with a long connection at the top and bottom obviously.

Build: Have the flat side of the sticks face outwards. Sandwich one stick between two others and continue with that pattern: -=-=-=- Build as many as you can and attach them together with glue (Assuming there has to be no width to this bridge).

Pretty much you just have one giant frame with interlocking popsicle sticks at the joints, probably 4-5 deep at some intersections. Make sure the bridge is as wide as the widest gap at the connections so it is symmetrical and there is the least amount of stress on the joints due to misfits.

BTW I am assuming the weight will be hanged? If it needs to be placed on top take a few sticks and make a stable area to place the weights and make sure it is balanced. If it is hanged make sure you find a way to EVENLY distribute that load throughout the whole structure, so its not attached to one point which would obviously just fail when the glue fails.

If the span is quite small, just make a ton of triangles and glue them together. If it is large, you need to go with the truss, having the weight applied to the shortest section of the bridge.

Answer 5

The best design probably hasn't been come up with yet. The length of the gap you need to span is very important. Arches can support the most weight but they are impractical with Popsicle sticks unless you are really good at warping wood. Triangle work very good as well. A large surface area to distribute the weight applied is also key. If too much weight focuses on a single point it will snap. Trial and error helps as well.

Answer 6

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Another person in your class is using this forum for an answer, well here goes again. The oldest and most proven way to hold a load is with an arch. Most bridges rely on buttresses to stop the arch spreading outwards. Since you will not have these build an 'over' arch bridge. Hold it from spreading out with the roadway. You create a suspension bridge with rigid uprights using triangulation on the arch top and roadway. Reinforce around stress areas add paint and a scale figure. ----------------------------

Answer 7

Google "truss" or "truss bridges" this will give you basic design for the bridge.

Answer 8

I can only give the idea that pillars are key, just think of how pillars are used everywhere.