Mini-Bridges
Mini-bridges represent the first opportunity for the students to express some creativity in the project. The rules for this part give a bit of latitude for the students to design their own bridge. In the future I will add a weight limit to this component of the project (10.0 grams). It is possible for these mini-bridges to hold upwards of 90 lbs- some will likely hold more than full-size bridges.
Here are the documents I've created to guide this part of the project:
- Page 1: Rules and Grading (pdf)
- Page 2: Schematic Sheet (pdf). This document should print an accurate grid with 2-cm boxes for the students to create a bridge blueprint. I set the gap between the blocks on the tester at 16-cm and gave 18-cm as a maximum bridge length. Remember- a bridge that is just 16-cm will either fall through the tester or just barely fit. Encourage 17 or 18 cm bridges.
The bridge tester must be modified to accomodate mini-bridges. There are a number of ways you might do this, but here is what I did:
Unfortunately, I have no pictures of a mini bridge on the tester itself, but here's a picture of a mini-bridge lying on a table. While not perfect, this bridge is a good example of what can be done based on the rules of the contest.
