This bridge was definitely not my best, but it does bring back memories. It was the second bridge built by my old Science Olympiad Bridge Building partner, David, and I. As you can see, we were still in the beginning of our bridge building career. I assume David is still building bridges, as his father … Read more
The Whooping Creek Bridge was originally built in 1928 (According to here). Unfortunately, the bridge was closed in May of 2006 after a DOT inspection. 5 months later, no work has been done on the bridge. From what I understand, there is division on what to do with the bridge. Some people want to replace … Read more
This balsa bridge was built by some students of mine for a Science Olympiad competition. It spanned 14 inches, weighed 8.1 grams, and held 29 pounds. That puts its efficiency at 1630.
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! We primarily focused on keeping the weight of the bridge down. The bridge weighed in at 211 grams.
This bridge won the 2004 GA State Science Olympiad Bridge Building competition. It weighed 9.47 grams, spanned 35cm, and held 15kg without breaking. The efficiency score was 1584. This bridge was made completely from Basswood. No Balsa or other wood was used. The top chord was made from 2 sticks of 1/16″ square pieces, laminated … Read more
This tower was 24 inches tall, 6 inches wide at the base, tapering to a 1 & 1/2 inch square at the middle. This tower weighed 7.0 grams, and held 11kg for 2nd place at the 2005 GA Science Olympiad State Finals. I am in the middle of building a tower for my Science Olympiad … Read more
We had some of our cousins spend the weekend with us. After the initial greetings, Matt asked me, “Can we go finish the bridge?” We had started building a bridge last year, when they came over to visit. Matt had finished one side of the bridge. While I did help him design it, Matt did … Read more
I built this bridge for the 2005 Fernbank Science Center bridge design event. The bridge spanned 16 inches, weighed 37 grams, and held 346 pounds. That puts its efficiency over 4200! One commenter said, “So if this bridge weighed one pound, it could have held up my car.”
Many people come to Garretts Bridges looking for advice on building a toothpick bridge. And though I have thought much about it, I have not attempted to build one yet. Here is a father who’s son made a toothpick bridge. He discusses how to design and build a toothpick bridge, and also has good photos. … Read more
This popsicle stick bridge was made from 40, unmodified popsicle sticks. The bridge spanned 12 inches, was 4 inches tall and 3 inches wide. I used only Elmer’s white glue to build the bridge. It weighed 57.4 grams (0.13 pounds), and held 90 pounds. Its efficiency score was 712.