Truss Bridge Project Report Essay Example

Abstract In this project, I had to design build and test a 16 inch long truss bridge. The goal of this project was to teach you how bridges are designed and built, and show the process of how bridges are designed and made in the real world by professional engineers. Bridges are used all over the world and it is a very important skill to know and understand how the physics of bridges work and why bridges are made how they are made, and that’s what this project is for. First, I had to come up with a possible design for the shape of the trusses for the bridge. Then I created my bridge design on WestPoint Bridge Builder and tested its ability to hold a truck, and created the design on MD Solids to see the forces acting on the bridge. Next, I built a model of the bridge using popsicle sticks and glued all the pieces together. After the bridge was complete, I tested the bridges strength and ability to hold things and recorded the results. The point of this project was to learn how to design, test, and build bridges sufficiently.
Design
Designs and ideas for possible designs are the first step of building a bridge. First, Preliminary sketches were made in an engineer’s notebook of four possible designs for a truss bridge. This is a screenshot of those sketches:

Then one of the preliminary sketches was selected to be the design for the final product. Next, the bridge design had to be made on WestPoint Bridge Designer. The design was then made on the program and the bridge was to be made as inexpensive as possible while still supporting a truck. The design was finished and screenshots were taken of the bridge. These are some screenshots from WestPoint Bridge Designer: Last, the bridge design was made on MD Solids to show the forces that would be acting on the bridge. This is a screenshot from MD Solids:

Construction Next, the bridge had to be made from popsicle sticks. First, the side outline of the bridge design was measured out and drawn on paper and