Week 10 Blog Post

         Last week in lab, we tested our final three-foot bridge design. During week 8, our three foot bridge was able to successfully support 42.3 pounds. This result produced a cost-weight ratio of approximately 9,000. Unfortunately, last week it was only able to support 31 pounds. This resulted in a cost-weight ratio of 12,300. It is clear that the ten pounds made a great difference. The bridge failed right under the raised truss, similar to the previous week. This final bridge cost approximately $380,000. The cost to weight ratio is acceptable but I would prefer it was able to hold more. Overall, I'm happy with our final result.

         I learned a lot over the course of this class. I learned a great deal about bridges, especially trusses, physical modeling and weight distribution. The least beneficial portion of the class for me was the bridge design program that calculated compression and tension distribution. I found this program to be very confusing and frustrating. I would much rather prefer to calculate these properties by hand using trigonometry. The physical modeling segments of the lab and working with Knex were my favorite parts and the most beneficial for me. I always seem to learn more through hands-on working. To improve the class for future students, I would suggest opening a few more bridge testing stations. Once the time came where groups began to start testing, the stations became very crowded and getting the opportunity to test was often a struggle. Other than that however, the course was very well organized and I learned a lot.