Now Updated and Expanded
I wrote an ebook, 5 Steps to Building a Model Bridge PDF to answer the most common questions people have about building bridges. In the ebook I show all the steps of building a model bridge, and then walk people through the actual construction of a bridge. The ebook contains many photos and illustrations, as well as 25 bonus tips.
The 2nd edition has been downloaded 18221 times since November, 2008.
Support the Cause
I am giving out this ebook for free. There is no obligation for you to donate, but please consider helping the cause. You can donate as much or as little as you want. Even as little as $1 helps me to know that you find the ebook helpful. Any donations will go to my time making this website better and so I can continue to make updates to this ebook. The payment is processed through PayPal’s secure servers.
Here is a condensed version of the table of contents:
#1: Know the rules!
- Be able to define in your own words what the bridge must accomplish
- Do not get disqualified
#2: Design the bridge
- Design the bridge around the loading points
- Choose a truss to use
- Draw the bridge to scale
#3: Gather Materials
- Wood
- Tools
- Workspace
#4: Build the bridge
- Step One
- Step Two
- Double check for leaning
#5: Testing and Evaluation
- Testing Procedures
- Evaluation Procedures
If what you’re building is a home then general contracting is something to try to learn as much about as possible before hiring new home builders to work on your home. The process of building a home is something that still might involve the use of a remodeling contractor so that’s something to keep in mind.
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Post Category: building, design
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i am using this in my tech class with my students
THANKS FOR THIS VALUABLE STEPS.
I AM GONNA USE THIS ON FURTHER CONTEST.
THANK YOU! I’m coaching Elevated Bridges for SO this year because my 6th grade son picked it as his first choice. I’m much better with say… reptiles and amphibians! But that’s ok, I feel like it’s all going to be ok because I found your site. THANKS for all of the advice, I’m still reading and trying to grok it all, but it’s the best resource I’ve found for me so far.
Thanks again,
n00b Coach Mrs. Klug
Mrs. Klug, thanks for your comment. And as a former participant in Science Olympiad, I want to thank you for taking the time to be a coach. Especially for an event like Elevated Bridge. There is another resource that you (and your son) will probably find very helpful. It is the Science Olympiad Student Center. It is a forum where competitors from all over the nation talk about ideas and hints. Sometimes the national champions in events will be there offering advice.
Right now they have a thread dealing with Elevated Bridge that has a lot of good information in it. Here is a link:
http://scioly.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=79
Wow! This is soo helpful. Everything on your site is. How ever I have been arguing with my dad for quite some time of the reason to use bass and balsa wood. How ever he says that maple is much a better wood for building bridges. Would you agree with him?
Hey Cyrus, I want to put a disclaimer that I have not used maple for building a model bridge. I do know that maple is commonly used to make violins, which speaks for its strength. My question is whether or not you can get maple wood in small enough dimensions to work for a model bridge.
When I evaluate something, especially for model bridges, I look at several things. For wood, I would compare the following four things to find the “best”:
Is it efficient?
Is it a consistent wood?
Is it readily available?
Is it cheap?
Balsa and Basswood fit most of these, but I don’t know about maple. It probably is efficient, but I don’t know whether it is consistent. Balsa wood is definitely NOT consistent, and one must take a lot of care to select good wood. I also don’t know if I have ever seen maple in a hobby store, so I wouldn’t know where to purchase it at. I am pretty sure that it would be more expensive than either Balsa or Basswood.
You rock! This will definitely help out my science project!
I would like you to know that this is, by far, the best website on model bridges that I have found. I have been doing intensive research for my engineering technology class, but I find myself coming back to your website over and over again.
My team and I thank you.
Thank you so much garrett. You helped me get an A on my project.
A big thanks for your publishing such a helpful site. I was not sure where to begin with this project but you have really helped us get started ! Thanks so much for all your efforts
Thanks for the help!!
Hey, thanks for the e-book. I am also in Science Olympiad, and its my first year for the Senior High, my captain just gave me this event and forced me to do it. I’m looking forward to it, and just wanted to ask, what would be the best wood for model bridge for science olympiad, since you have had experience.
By using construction methods (joint structure & clamping) from your very helpful site, my son Jackson & I built a bridge using less than 125 Popsicle sticks which supported 500 lbs. and set a new Cub Scout record for our area! Thanks for helping us become the talk of the town!
wow, 500 lbs that great. i have built a bridge using about the same number of sticks. mine only held 280 lbs though. Great job. if you dont mind can you tell me what design you used?
G’day,
I’ve tried to use your “Contact me” form to contact you about some ideas for a bridge i’m building (22grams suppporting min. 25N and dimensions of 648 x 100 x 75mm)
Is there something wrong with it?
Josh, thank you for pointing this out. The contact form did have an error and was not working properly. I have fixed the problem now. If you have any specific questions I will try and answer them.
Thanks
Garrett,
Great web page! My daughters and I will be referencing your page as we prepare for this years SO.
Thanks,
Tony
JUst Say! VERY AMAZING and GOOD
i did not find this helpful
What do you think of Waddell’s book “Bridge Engineering”? Worth having if you can get it?
I want to build my own foot bridges from trees over a river which I do’nt know what where to get the materials; and what type of materials a good to build that type of bridghe.