8th grade students tested their bridges yesterday
during the Bridge Exposition, part of the Bridges to STEM Careers project. All
of the bridges were tested by adding weight to the span until it collapsed. The
winner was the one bridge that held the most weight and cost the least to
build!
A special thanks to our guest experts,
bridge engineers and architects from the Pittsburgh Region. Representatives
from HDR, Inc., Penn Dot District 11 and Michael Baker International used their
insight and expertise to help enrich this learning activity. Bridge designs,
results, pictures, and videos can be seen on the classroom website.
Dead Load: 0.97 N
Live Load 68 N
$1,486,000
94 straws
Brady, Rowen, Natalie, Carly
Dead load: 1.86 N
Live Load: 78 N
$4,013,000
173 straws
Jacob, Jenna, Gavin, Vanessa
Dead load: 1.06 N
Live Load: 44
$1,588,000
196 straws
Andrew, Sarah, Julia, Kenneth
Dead load: 3.44 N
Live Load: 114 N 26 lbs!
$4,522,000
202 straws
Liam, Drew, Nicholas
Dead load: 2.4 N
Live Load: 98 N
$1,975,000
175 straws
Ava, Emelia, Sean, Jonah, Luke