Engineering Bridge Tests
On October 26, 2015, the Engineering Design class held its annual bridge design competition. Last year’s record of 101 pounds was shattered when the bridge designed by Ashlyn Rieder and Chase Menendez, weighing less than four-tenths of a pound, held a whopping 108 pounds!
Many classes from the Satellite Center were present to witness the tests. In addition, we had special guest Dr. Gianna Cothren, professor of Civil Engineering at the University of New Orleans, participate during the morning tests.
After many weeks of designing, calculating, redesigning and building, five teams competed to determine the winning designs. The team of Tyler Childress and Chandler Fremen had the most efficient design. Their bridge held 90.5 pounds but weighed less than a quarter of a pound. So, their bridge had the best strength-to-weight ratio, holding 395 times its own weight!
All five teams successfully met all the bridge design criteria for minimum dimensions and specified load.
This project was the culmination of the Team Members’ study of the physics of equilibrium of forces.