Model Bridge Design » Photos

2011 Maine Transportation Conference PSBC

Garrett Boon — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:57:45 +0000

This video shows the top three performing bridges from the 2011 Maine Transportation Conference Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition. Evidently this is a competition that has been going on for a long time, and these bridges are impressive. I gather that the contest is open to anyone, as long as you purchase your popsicle bridge kit from the Maine ASCE Student Chapter which costs $10. This video is a fun documentary of the best bridges, and you can tell the competitors are having a lot of fun. It’s too bad I didn’t get to Maine in time for this competition, I would have loved to attend.

I like this video because of the commentary. The observers discus their opinions about why each bridge failed (casually) as the video plays. Notice the comment about lateral bracing on the first bridge. Would you agree with them?

Did you catch how the second bridge failed? This would have been an easy fix, and it just goes to say how you should reinforce the loading area on your popsicle bridges. Take the lessons from this video and use on your own models.

I also appreciate this video because the winner shares my name, Garrett. What do you think made Garrett’s bridge so strong?

New Popsicle Stick Suspension Bridge

Garrett Boon — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:33:04 +0000

Popsicle Suspension Bridge

Catch a sneak peak at one of my newest creations: a model suspension bridge made from popsicle sticks and paracord. This bridge was created as part of a custom project I designed. This idea was one I had been contemplating for some time. I found a simple way to construct a suspension bridge and this is the result. I have some ideas how to make this even better which might take some time to finalize.

You will be able to find a kit for building this popsicle stick suspension bridge in my store soon.

Hell Gate Bridge 1/4 Scale

high iron models — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:24:24 +0000

Bridge is almost complete, features wood deck 4 track main with all hand laid track dimensions are 25 in wide x 27 foot long end to end x 7 foot 6 inches high at center. Weight about 1000 pounds featuring stone covered steel towers and navagation lights.

Here is a picture of the Hell Gate model:

frame work started using steel bars welded together

Garrett’s Thoughts
This is an excellent piece of work. Thank you for sending in this photo of the progress you have made so far. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the finished product. What are your plans for it once it is completed? What inspired you to start building this model bridge?

Video: Ultimate Popsicle Bridge Design?

Garrett Boon — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:07:06 +0000

This is quite an interesting popsicle bridge video. The maker claims it is the “ultimate popsicle bridge design” because it held 600 pounds. He also states in the description that he spent a large amount of time optimizing the Warren Truss. This is also probably part of his “ultimate design” claim. What do you think? Is this truly the best popsicle stick bridge design?

Thoughts About the Design

He states that this bridge should have been able to hold close to 1200 pounds from what he worked out on paper. It only held about half of that weight, which raises a question in me of, “what went wrong?” Also, if the bridge held 600 pounds and weighed 500 grams, it only has an efficiency score of 546. Compare that to my Short Pratt Truss Bridge Updated which had an efficiency score of over 1200. Granted, his bridge was longer, I’d guess around two feet long which is double that of my pratt truss popsicle bridge. Has anyone here been able to achieve a higher efficiency score with a similar length popsicle bridge?

Dombiggers 1st bridge

dombiggers — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 04:47:45 +0000

As you can see i took your advice on using a t-shape for the bottom cord. Which was really cool, cause it gave me a lip for my cross members. I did sandwich the top cord. I glued lap joints and gusset plates, plus pinned the legs to the cords with small wire nails that I cut to size. The model is 19″ long x 2 1/4″ high. The road way deck is 3″ wide. I didn’t weigh it yet. It spans 18″ with 1/2″ end bearings.

My 1st brigde

Thanks again for all the great info and advice. This project only has to hold 10 lbs. extra credit if it has a 25% or less load capacity percentage. The record in the class on this project is 80 lbs… I’m planning to donate 1$ for every 10 lbs this bridge holds to your web site.

Model Covered Bridge

KerryK — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:19:42 +0000

Garrett-
Jobs well done – interesting site and information!
We built a 1/8″ scale model bridge just like the bridges we build for production. We successfully loaded it with 345 pounds with the weight being distributed all the way across the middle. Do you know of a formula where we can figure out that weight capacity for our full scale bridge? We have contacted 3 different engineers in our area who don’t have access to such information.

Model Covered Bridge

Thank you for your time and any helpful resources. (I cannot make the Johns
Hopkins nodes and members work….?)

Rainbow Bridge Company

Pin Joint Popsicle Stick Bridge

Joseph — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:14:21 +0000

At our college earlier this year, we had to build a bridge using popsicle sticks within one hour. We were provided with about 60 sticks, a cushion of office pins and a tube of super-glue. I have attached a picture of the bridge we constructed, that eventually won the first place. I’m sorry I dont have a better picture to show you.

Pin Joint Bridge

I have pointed out the fixed and pinned joints, at least that’s where I remember them to be. It was extremely difficult and painful to drive the pins in, especially when no other tool was allowed, and I had to use my finger for the purpose, but it was very rewarding.

You should try it out sometime.

Warm Regards,
Joseph
P.S. Im the guy in the black tshirt.

Basic Arch Popsicle Stick Bridge

Garrett Boon — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 15:15:48 +0000

This is a very simple yet elegant looking bridge that I built over Christmas break. This bridge spanned 16 inches and was made from 48 popsicle sticks. It held 75 pounds, which was right at what I was expecting.

Here is a video:

The idea behind this bridge was to create an aesthetically pleasing bridge, while still keeping it simple to build. I wanted a really basic arch bridge design in order to compare it to a simple beam bridge that I also built. You can purchase plans for this bridge in my store.

You can see from the video that this bridge collapsed from the middle. I think that if the ends of the bridge had been braced like a real life arch bridge, this bridge would have held considerable more weight before it broke. But as a free standing arch bridge made from popsicle sticks, I think it was pretty good.

Short Howe Truss Popsicle Bridge

Garrett Boon — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:46:13 +0000

I built this popsicle stick bridge to complete my short popsicle bridge series. This bridge uses the Howe Truss design. Previous to this I had built bridges using the Pratt and Warren trusses. This bridge was 13.5 inches long and used 50 popsicle sticks. It ended up holding 117 pounds before failing. Here is a video of the testing procedure:

I changed up the testing with this bridge. Instead of placing one very large weight directly on the bridge, I started with a small weight. This increased the concentration of the load in the middle of the bridge. I figured this would be more realistic to the way bridges would be tested when built by other people. This is why I think this bridge held significantly less than the Short Pratt Truss Bridge.

You can purchase blueprints for this popsicle bridge in my store.

World’s Longest Popsicle Stick Bridge

Garrett Boon — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:34:10 +0000

Largest Popsicle Bridge

Here is the story of the Prairie Popsicle Stick Bridge told in video format. As far as I know, this is the longest working popsicle stick bridge that a person can walk across. If you know of a longer bridge that does the same, please let me know. The largest popsicle bridge was built back in 2008 in my dorm room at Prairie Bible College. For many nights I slept on the floor, as I was using my bed space as a worktable to glue the bridge together. This bridge is long, it is large, and super cool.

The testing of this bridge was a community event, as you can see the large number of people gathered to watch. This bridge definitely is one of my favorites that I have built over the years. Two years later people are still talking about it at the school.