Raina Shauki 698887
WK2 – Studio Report During this weeks studio, the exercise we had to complete was to build a bridge out of a limited amount of materials that could span across a 150cm gap. The diagram on the left shows a few of the ideas that my group initially had about a design. We looked at top bracing and bottom bracing, and the possibility of using an arch to distribute the load that would be tested on our bridge at the end of the studio.
Our group decided to use bridge number 2 from the diagram above as our actual design. We would construct a main base from 3 pieces of balsa wood and support it with trusses along both sides that would connect up to a secondary beam above the main base. The image on the bottom left of this page shows our Sinal design alongside the Sinal design of another group in the class. The other groups bridge (the bridge on the right) was much wider than out bridge and did not have any upwards bracing. Instead the group decided to reinforce their bridge with horizontal struts that joined two main beams. Although this gave their bridge support from sideways compression, it was not as efSicient in carrying a load at the middle of the bridge, with bending occurring.
ENVS10003 Constructing Environments
The materials we were given i n c l u d e d a d h e s i v e s ( g l u e , blutack, pins and tape) and a 60x10cm piece of balsa wood. Because we had a very limited amount of construction material (the balsa wood) and a wide gap for the bridge to span, our group decided to make a very thin bridge compromising of a main base and support. The balsa wood was split into the elements shown in the diagram below.