Coolest Popsicle Bridge

This bridge was built by Michael in Quebec.

I have a bridge I built for a physics for engineers class I’m taking in cegep (QUEBEC). My partner and I didn’t have much confidence in it, but it blew the competition away! The design was a fairly straightforward arch as you can see. We primarily focused on keeping the weight of the bridge down. The bridge weighed in at 211 grams.

The efficiency rating worked as follows:
Weight supported by the bridge divided by the weight of the bridge squared.

This was our score. 173 KG./ (.211)squared. Our score was 3886, second place was 2100 and the rest of the competition was well below 2000. Our bridge held 381 pounds! And the lab class which we tested them in ran out of weight for us to load it with, so we couldn’t break the bridge! our teacher is building a hydraulic system to crush it next week!
~Michael.

32 Responses to “Coolest Popsicle Bridge”

1. andrew - November 5, 2009 at 11:35 am

   great can i have blueprints on that to see how you made so i can see if i can modify it(if i can:)

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2. Mark Norman - October 7, 2009 at 12:36 pm

   whats the square for the one with the hole?

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3. Taylor Smith - June 4, 2009 at 11:24 am

   How many popsickle sitcks…?? i have to do the same thing for my tech class but i can’t only use 100 and wood glue…would that be enough>?

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4. nikky - May 19, 2009 at 9:10 pm

   thats amazing. do you think you could tell me how to make that….i need to make a bridge for my physics class.

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   • Jan Cedrick - August 20, 2009 at 11:58 pm

     yah me too. For my physics class.
     my question is how long is the length of the bridge??

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   • Jim - November 21, 2009 at 3:26 pm

     I would also like to build one with my kids using your design. I think they will be amazed as to how much strength can be acheived with such little mass. Please forward a copy.

     Thanks in advance.

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     • Garrett Boon - November 22, 2009 at 1:48 pm

       Jim, I do not have any plans for this bridge. These photos came from a reader of this site, I did not build this bridge.

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5. sylvos - May 18, 2009 at 5:45 am

   it is a good design **** however this bridge cannot be entered into most popsicle bridge competitions because there are “modified” sticks. The sticks are not supposed to be altered in any way.eg. cut into smaller pieces split down the middle broken etc. (sorry if someone has already pointed this out)

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6. Kat - May 13, 2009 at 10:44 pm

   I like the design- simple but using alot of different techniques. How many sticks did you use? Do you have plans or more phots on how to build it. Anyone got bridge plans/phtos on how to build?–email me at zebraz25@yahoo.com with plans

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7. alvin - April 13, 2009 at 10:10 am

   hey can u send me the plans and the pics of the side the top and bottom

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8. Andy - March 26, 2009 at 3:08 pm

   I’m about to enter a competition, I just need to ask a few questions

   Approx. how many sticks was it?
   Can you send me some pics of the bottom, so I can get a simialar layout of the base.

   Thanks!!

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   • MIKE - April 21, 2009 at 5:24 pm

     150 popsicles and i lost the pics sry

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9. David - March 24, 2009 at 8:21 pm

   Hey, I’m curious as to how many popsicle sticks were used in the bridge build? Also was the load for the bridge appiled below or above the bridge?

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10. Mike - March 17, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    hey guys, i built this thing a few years ago. It ended up holding around 650 pounds before a popsicle stick just sheared in half! and the thing blew up. I dont have any plans for it but i can send a few pictures of it if people are interested. just leave your email on this page and ill send then your way.

    Cheers,

    Mike

    Ps. the middle is raise as there are load bearing cross beams to distribute the load to the trusses.

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    • Garrett Boon - March 17, 2009 at 7:24 pm

      Thanks for the update, Mike. I had been wondering how much it ended up holding. Sweet bridge man.

      Reply
    • Melissa - May 6, 2009 at 9:15 am

      Hi! I would like to see any information that you have on this bridge. My son is having to build one for school and we are researching it.

      Thanks!

      Reply
    • Billy Bob - May 24, 2009 at 4:47 pm

      Hey! I have to build a bridge for physics and he’s having this really cruel grading system. i’d love to see how you made yours if it might help me. And any tips you have would be helpful.
      thanks

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    • Vickie Chennault - June 14, 2009 at 10:41 am

      Do you have any blueprints or instructions for this bridge? Also, how many popsicle sticks were used to build this bridge? I need this information for my child’s Honor Physics class who is taking it right now for the summer.

      Thanks

      Reply
11. callie - March 5, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    hey that is sweet

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12. Ina - February 16, 2009 at 9:37 am

    WOW!!! awesome! How many popsicle sticks was it??? I think it’s so funny how a few hundred popsicle sticks piled up just right can hold so much weight.

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    • Jan Cedrick - August 20, 2009 at 11:52 pm

      yah how many was it???

      Reply
13. Kevin - January 13, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    Just so you know the weigh of the bridge in the eaquation should not be squared. The equation stays as the 173kg/(0.211)=E , E weight held per kg, so you effiecency would only be 819.905%

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14. rockxy - November 13, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    i love this briges is cool and we,ve bulid this 4 a science talnet show in class thank love rockxy!

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15. tj - November 6, 2008 at 7:03 pm

    I hope you had the honors of seeing it get CRUSHED!

    -great bridge
    tjalise

    Reply