BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

WEEK 4 DAY 2

One of my bridge designs, I decided to look into complex ideas which would be visually pleasing which is what I attempted with the two path bridge above.. 



In groups we started to plan and construct a much larger bridge using cardboard and 30 bamboo sticks along with masking tape to secure the joints.



Only two points were allowed to touch the floor when supporting the bridge. Also the width of our bridge was small but enough to cater for the remote control car which was going to travel across it.



The use of triangles in the structure support and final aesthetics design were what made our bridge consistent but also unique from the other groups.



Above: shows the process of the framework being built, adding extra rigor through the use of stretched elastic bands connecting to the main bridge like the suspension cables on a real bridge. 



Another positive aspect of our bridge is that we used minimal materials and such a simple design made it very neat yet it was compact and strong enough to hold the weight of the remote controlled car.



Above: shows the large (almost square) change in angle between the main stretch of bridge and the hill to it. This turned out to be a major problem for the remote car which got stuck on this steep change in angle.



From a glance this neat looking design would look perfect in its straightness and ability to aid the car cross from table to table however others did not seem to realise that such a change in steepness would prevent the car travelling over the bridge.



Above: most of the bridges lined up parallel to each other. Designs showed that some people went for very abstract or very unoriginal designs. Most of the other bridges were more of a messy design than ours and were much larger because they made use of the extensive amount of card and bamboo.

 

REFLECTION

This task was right up my street seeing as I have always built model bridges using all sorts of materials throughout my childhood alongside my brother; however I am disappointed in myself for not taking charge in the group situation. I feel that I held back too much allowing others to present and construct unoriginal ideas that were boring and didn't work in the end. The bridge looked nice and neat and was different to the other designs within the room which was a success. Yet when it actually came down to the real purpose of the task it failed simply because of one aspect to the design which I had actually emphasised to all in the group to watch out for and avoid; so I was disappointed that the people in the group did not notice this basic fault in the steep change in angle at the point where the beginning of the bridge path meets the 90 degree horizontal at the centre of the bridge. I have learnt a lot from this task; in the future I will be more forceful and much louder when I have a strong idea of what to do to make sure that no-one misses out on important advice and so that the task can be completed successfully.

 

CHC

 

Images: Authors own