We Took Third Place!!

[drillman88]

This is my sons eighth grade science project.He come up with the concept, I helped with the bridge design and construction.The concept was that a cable stayed bridge would handle more weight than a suspension bridge.The bridge is made from 1/4" ply and the "cables" are are 20 lb. test fishing line that is scotch taped to the to the "trusses" and the upper cable of the suspension bridge.We used pebbles added an ounce at the time until failure.The cable stayed bridge held 3 times the weight of the suspension bridge.I know it is not a perfect model but it was judged by engineers from a large gov,t facility and he finished third for the entire school.

[Ed62]

Those projects are always great. Congrats on the finish.

Ed

[Mr__Bill]

Nice job, it's great when a science project is about science and demostrates something.


bill

[drillman88]

He was really proud of the result and I was proud of him .
I suggested the wooden materials considering the strength and weight, but the fishing line and tape were in his mind from the moment he ran it by me.That was really the most important factor.We had to have a weak point to keep stresses managable. I helped with the layout and ran the power tools but he did the assembly.
He is leaning toward engineering and I think he may have a future in it if he applies himself.

[cgallery]

He is leaning toward engineering and I think he may have a future in it if he applies himself.

And we will all benefit from stronger bridges.

Nice work. On the kid even more than the project.

[chopnhack]

Very cool and congrats!

[SARGE..g-47]

Kool stuff, drillman. Now.. could you pass the Cheez-its, please.

[Alex Franke]

Congrats! That's a great experiment!!

[shoottx]

Very Cool

A really neat concept, and carried out well.

I always had wild ideas like launching a cat into outerspace. They would never let me demonstrate a full scale production attempt!

[drillman88]

It was a cool experiment.The cable stayed in the top picture actually held enough weight that the ply sagged and you could hear the stress on the line and tape before it gave.
It was very impressive.

[lrogers]

Yep, looks like there is an engineer in the making! I would like to have seen video of the experiment, bet that was cool.

[cobob]

That's pretty cool. I'm curious what took the first 2 places.

[Wood_workur]

That's pretty cool. Reminds me of the wind tunnel I built in 7th grade. It was too large to display at the regional science fair.


Got me 3rd place though.

[Kristofor]

They did the same experiment up here with a steel truss arch bridge. The results weren't pretty...

Congrats on a well executed project!

[drillman88]

I asked my son about the first and second place projects and in typical teenager fashion he said "I dunno some kid went crazy about bacteria or something". I guess that's the best answer I can give.