Bridges

Mar 3, 2003 - © Zany

Ever thought like to try your hand at building a bridge? Think it would be easy? What's involved? Keep reading to find out.

How about if we start out by building a simple file card bridge? Amazing what one can illustrate about bridges just using a file card.

What Kind of Bridge is Best is a good reference site. There are short discussions on basic bridge types and how a bridge is made. Have you ever consider how a bridge is actually put in place? No? Well, four methods for constructing a bridge are list here.

There are two excellent PBS's sites where we can continue our research. First, click over to PBS's Building Big . Start by visiting the labs. What kind of forces (squeezing, stretching, bending, sliding, and/or twisting) do we have to worry about when building our bridge? What are loads and which ones do we have to be concerned with? Of course we will have to consider what will be the best material to make our bridge out of as well as its shape. Now, are we ready to try our hand at determining what type of bridge is best for a certain location? Great! Bridge Basics has a short discussion of four types of bridges and the forces that act upon them. Then try the bridge challenge and see if you can place the right bridge in the right location. For more practice, visit PBS's Super Bridge web page Build A Bridge. Survey the sites then build that bridge.

If you are looking for an more in-depth consideration of the factors that have to be taken into account when designing a bridge, take a look at The Art of Bridge Construction. There are eleven lessons discussing the various parameters followed by lesson twelve, building your bridge. This web site is aimed at high school students.

An interesting and well-done site about bridges is Bridge Watching for Beginners. (After I wrote this article, the web site was changed. The full text is no longer available online but a .pdf e-book is available from Netlibrary.com). I never thought of taking up bridge watching as a hobby. Nonetheless, the aim if this site is to help one to enjoy looking at bridges rather than looking right past them. It is somewhat more technical then the previous sites. Don't let that put you off. The site has a glossary of terms and the text is enhanced with movies, sketches, photos and diagrams.

The copyright of the article Bridges in Science Websites is owned by Zany. Permission to republish Bridges in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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