I have always wanted to build a model suspension bridge, and finally I have finished one. This is a popsicle stick suspension bridge. I created it from scratch, coming up with the design on my own. After testing it to failure I learned quite a bit about how suspension bridges react to loads. This model suspension bridge uses popsicle sticks as the main building material. The decking is cardboard, and the “cables” are 550 parachute cord (military surplus)

Enjoy watching this video of a quickly made bridge that supports a lot of weight. It also includes video footage of the Ignite Seattle popsicle stick bridge contest.

We run a comp here at Albury High in Australia for our Yr 12 Engineering Studies students involving max. 50 popsicle sticks, PVA wood glue and 2m of extra strong thread.  Structures have to span 400mm and are centrally loaded.  Here’s a photo of our 2010 winner which weighed in at 69 grams and held 58kgs giving an efficiency using the formula on your website if i used it correctly of around 12000!

These are some pictures of a bridge I built mainly out of boredom, but also since I have an interest in engineering. It’s a large cantilever bridge, meaning it has two arms that extend beyond their piers that hold up a center suspended span. It’s 10′ 2″ long and as of right now is hanging across my bedroom ceiling

This is a very nicely built popsicle stick bridge. If you want to build a strong popsicle stick bridge, than I would suggest that try something like this. Because all the popsicle sticks are glue together, this bridge will have amazing lateral support. I used this idea on a lesser scale on my Prairie Popsicle Stick Bridge.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has been putting on an annual popsicle stick bridge competition for high schools in western Washington for the last 13 years. Last year, I entered with a 350 gram, 30 inch long bridge that carried 567 pounds under their hydraulic press. They score the bridges on efficiency (I won at that!) and aesthetics.

Hi, I just wanted to share the excitement…by using ideas from your website (recommended by my son’s Cub Scout leader) my son Jackson and I were able to build a Popsicle bridge with approximately 125 sticks. It set a new record by holding 500 lbs. for about 15 seconds before breaking! Thanks for the great ideas…not bad for the first try

This is a popsicle stick bridge I built while in the last few weeks of my fall college semester. I used 924 popsicle sticks to build this bridge. This bridge was 5 feet long, 10 inches tall, and 8 inches wide. I had to sort through 2600 popsicle sticks to find enough usable ones. The first testing of the bridge consisted of 220 pounds worth of weights. The second testing included putting a piece of plywood on top of the bridge and me standing on it (170 pounds). We noticed that one end diagonal chord was bending tremendously, so I decided to call off any more testing until I could repair that one piece

These are the photos of a popsicle bridge that I made for a bridge building contest at my university in Spain. The weight of the bridge was 3.9kg, and the bridge held 700kg without breaking. This gives it an efficiency score of 180. The dimensions of underneath the arc are 90cm x 45cm.

Here is a video playlist I created from youtube of selected popsicle bridge movies. You can see a variety of testing methods used in these videos. You can also see a lot of people not wearing eye protection, which is not a good idea. Always wear eye protection when testing a bridge.