Popsicle Stick Bridge - Holds 2344 pounds before exploding.

[darkgemxx]

what a unique design and very impressive being able to hold that much weight

[chummithang]

i swear this bridge had an invisible block of gold in there. that is one crazy bridge dude. nice work. but i really wish that there was an auesthitically pleasing part of these competitions. thumbs up if u agree

[DocterGoodness]

lol thats awesome

[quinster11]

Hey Shane when you did the bridge project for structures 2 what initial load did you design for in sframe?

[cooroxd123]

How many popsicle sticke did you use?

[sgiven]

Honestly I didn't keep track. The sticks end up getting all chopped up into various sizes and then sanded down. I did some quick math and there's probably about 120 popsicle sticks worth of wood in the bridge but in reality it probably took closer to 200 sticks to get there. We don't have a limit on the number of sticks, just maximum dimensions and a limit of 250 grams.

[jserna23]

thats not a bridge, its just a test of how much compression the wood can take

[sgiven]

You should look up "deck arch bridge" when you get a chance. If I put a deck on my bridge that's what it would be. For our contest we don't need one.

[jserna23]

ok, so i can't see the video very well but is the machine applying the load at the top of it or is it compressing the truss inwards?

by the way you could arch the sticks

[sgiven]

The load is applied vertically down at the peak. Our rules limit the height so a true arch would have to be too shallow to be effective. It's the same principle though, but without the arching shape. Most of the force acts as compression in the main members but I had to make the supports and x members to keep these columns in place. It's a complete bridge. Check out the link in the info and you can see some better pictures. This was my 2008 bridge, 2009 held 2400lbs and I'm working on 2010 now.

[jserna23]

thats cool. i'm in a bridge contest myself and possibly go into the same area as yourself after i graduate.

[essendon2431]

It didnt really explode but kool! 4 1/2 out of 5

[BowlingFreak218]

ive seen one hold 804 kg in front of my very eyes. it was like a jesus arch bridge lol

[lee33642]

Congratz. I like how it exploded. =]

[120ohm]

Nice job, you will do well.

[sgiven]

Thanks

[superbluff5]

i made a Popsicle bridge at school and it held 210

[walikai]

seems more beleivable

[sgiven]

That machine it's sitting in is a hydraulic press with a load sensor attached to it. The main members of my bridge were about as big around as my thumb. It snapped clean through two of them.

If you still don't believe me, look it up on the website, It has hundreds of pictures and statistics going all the way back to 1988.

Soon I'll be working on my 2009 bridge and I'll post the video for that one too.

[razourlight962]

@walikai Ur right

true

[AdrianAkiyuki]

any tips for making a bridge? i have to make one aswell

[sgiven]

There's tons of tips online if you look around a little. Check out the link under "more info". We have a different set of rules than many other contests so we are allowed to use the sides of the testing machine as support, but there are a lot of regular trusses on there that have held a lot of weight too.

One tip I'll give you is to let it dry as long as possible before the competition.

[FunWithPaper]

use TiteBond wood glue! We just made one in our Tech class