Examples: Reader Submitted

Pin Joint Popsicle Stick Bridge

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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 don’t have a better picture to show you.

K-Truss bridge for Wake Tech engineering class

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This bridge is supporting 191lbs of weight. It didn’t break, that was all the weight we could fit in the trash can. I believe this is close to the maximum load it could hold because the platform the jig is resting on was significantly bowed. The rest of the structure was rock solid. The construction of the bridge is popsicle sticks

Albury High School Popsicle Bridge record breaker!

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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!

Monstrous Popsicle-stick Cantilever bridge

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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

Nic’s Popsicle Stick Bridge

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Nic’s design held a weight of 224kg and had a final efficiency of 1020. It did not shear or snap at any member, but bowed in the second third of member C-E. This member did have angled bracing to stop bowing and this brace did not snap it was only the glue joins in this brace that failed. The truss ballooned out at the point when 2.2kN of force was applied. It was at this point that the test was stopped

First attempt at a DIY model bridge

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It’s taken me just under 48 hours to get this far. Although i wouldn’t say its completely finished.. it’s a good as. I might just polish it off with a lick of paint and other aesthetically pleasing type things. As you can see, I’ve modeled it on the Pratt Truss. Although, I didn’t do any “real” plans, just rough drawings

Straw Bridge

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Bridge constructed with drinking straws & spaghetti.  Pinned connections between straws with spaghetti. Bridge span across deck = 50cm, supported below at half span. Was skeptical about the bridge holding…

Toothpick Arch Bridge

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I just completed a new toothpick bridge that’s quite different than my last one. It’s an arch made from curved trusses, formed once again with toothpicks and wood glue. This one won’t be tested either (sorry!) because it was made for a friend who creates custom action figure dioramas. But I designed the bridge to have the highest ratio of maximum load to bridge weight and some ad hoc tests made me pretty optimistic

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