Computer Number

Information

Your Engineering company must design a bridge that will span Ell Pond. The bridge will hold normal street traffic (autos and people). Your design will be built and tested against other models in class. The winning bridge will have a price tag that is under budget, and have the highest efficiency (ratio of load held vs. the actual weight of the bridge).

The bridge will span Ell Pond, which has no shipping to contend with. This means there is very little boating on the pond. The depth of the pond is no more than 6 feet, and the longest span is close to 150 feet long.

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Specifications:

The finished model must be 14 inches long and at least 2 inches wide.
The model must be constructed from materials purchased from the "mayor".
Your bridge must be built for less than $1 million. Material prices are found at the end of the brief.
Your company has to follow the Design Process. Open the copy of the Design Process Problem Worksheet, use the save as command, and put a copy of it into your company's folder( in the STUFF folder on your computer desktop). Make changes as necessary, and save constantly.
Your bridge must be specific to the needs of the city. Take the Bridge Challenge, it will help in your proposals to the Mayor.

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Research

Start your Research- step 2. Your research will come from studying the following website: How Bridges Work. Simply go to :

Follow the pages:

The Basics
The Beam Bridge
The Arch Bridge
The Suspension Bridge

Research these pages to create an "Inspiration" web outline. This can be used during your end of activity Big Dig quiz. Print and pass in your "Research".

The "Inspiration" program is found in Start/ Programs/ Inspiration k-12. Be sure to save in your stuff folder.

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Work list:

Select a team, brainstorm a name.
Read and understand the Design Brief.
Read and understand the DPPW.
Make a team folder in the Stuff folder. Copy (save as) the DPPW on the desktop and place in your folder. fill out the top area and step 1- Problem.
Start and complete your Research- step 2. This involves understanding the "How Bridges Work".
After completing the Bridge Challenge, make your Company's First Proposal to the Mayor. Include the type of bridge you intend to build and why. If accepted, continue to #5, if rejected, do the Bridge challenge over to get a different bridge style.
Step 3- Solutions- Each team will draw 6 thumbnail sketches, these should include bridge shape, design and what forces will affect it. Record the ideas you come up with for these design areas in your DPPW. Pass in your thumbnails. Here is a link with many bridges in it, use it to help in your designs and proposals. Bridge Pix 2
Spend a day or two using West Point Bridge Designer, or ModelSmart to finalize your design. Make a printout and pass it in.
Include these good design parts in your step 4- Best Solution drawing. Draw a full size Rough Sketch on graph paper. Include a top (if needed), bottom, and side view. You'll build your bridge directly from this drawing. Be neat, your Big Dig prototype should look very similar to this drawing. Use a ruler or triangle to draw straight lines. Pass in your rough sketch.
Figure out you budget at this point, include this info with your Rough sketch in your Company's Second Proposal to the Mayor. If necessary, modify your design to meet the budget.
Build your Prototype- step 5. Make sure it conforms to the activity specs.
Once your prototype is built, test it with the Bridge Buster. Compute your efficiency. Print out a copy the Engineering Efficiency Worksheet. Fill it out, you can weigh your model on the triple beam balance. Fill out step 6- Testing & Modifications to list any changes you made to your best solution.
Lastly, record any changes you would make for the better, or figure out why your design did not work. List these in step 8- Re-Design.
skip step 7- communicate. Take the end of activity Quiz. You may use your "Inspiration" outline for help in answering the questions.

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	5	3	1
Design Process Problem Worksheet	Neat & complete	missing no more than 3 items	missing more than 3 items
Bridge Model	built neat, cuts are straight, gussets neat and straight	complete, messy	not completed
Research	covers content, neat	has some content, messy	not done
Efficiency	over 1250	less than 1250	not completed
Quiz	over 85%	70% to 84%	less than 70%
Cooperation	helps out the company in all ways	helps out and works 70% of time	works less than 70% of time


Information	Research	Costs
Specifications	Work List	Grading