Week 9 term review

In our week 9 lab we tested our 3' bridge. It ended up holding 35 pounds before one of the bottom members seperated from the a gusset plate. We are content with this weight as it seems that we were pretty average with the rest of the class. In the next week we will all work to complete our A4 final report, which we will present in week 10. Overall I believe that our group did well in this class. Our 2' bridge held the most weight, and our 3' bridge did satisfactory. I feel that I have learned a lot about bridge design and the type of work that goes into designing a good real-life bridge. I have learned that the west point bridge designer program does a good job at designing a good bridge structure, but it lacks the ability to take into consideration the lateral forces that a real bridge will encounter. Knex were a choice for the materials for this project because they are similar to real bridge pieces but they lack the freedom to attach members at any requested angle. If I could add something to this course, it would be more opportunities to break bridge designs. I say this because it is the best way to learn what exactly is failing in the design, making it easier to improve the desing.