Research Plan

1. The goal in this experiment is to experiment with many different types of bridges that include the Arch, Truss, Warren, Pratt, Rigid Frame, Girder and my own designed bridge. The question is to find out which of all the bridges tested is the most efficient bridge for its design as well as figuring out which is the most weight bearing.
2. The main hypothesis throughout the experiment is that the Arch Bridge will be the most efficient bridge in the series of bridges being tested. Since it uses arch technology, it will distribute the weight much more evenly than that of any oter bridge, making it the most efficient than the others. The other part of my hypothesis predicts that the Sonny Truss (Own design) will be the most weight bearing as compared to the other bridges due to its extensive amount of compression and tension members within the design of the bridge.
3. Procedures: The first step in this experiment is to first identify the types of bridges you would like to test, such as truss bridges or arch bridges.
1. The second step is to then draw these bridges on a 18”x 6” paper. If you were to be doing a Truss bridge then it would also be nice to be able to do different truss bridge configurations.
2. The third step is to purchase __ x__ cm bass wood to construct your bridges.
3. Then on comes the fourth step the drawing of the pictures you will need to cut out the wood in the exact same size so that it all fits in one same place like on the pictures. Another important detail is that it is also necessary to cut the pieces of wood at the angles needed.
4. After all of that is done comes the fifth step. What you will need to do is put those pieces of wood on a board with some push pins to hold them down in order to glue them down. When it comes to the glue it would be specific glue called wood glue. Wood glue it much more power full and in some instance it can even be much stronger then actual wood itself. After the wood has dried over night then it has fully hardened and it is then ready to test.
5. The next step is to then test these different bridges with small weights ranging from ½ to 5 pound incensements. These will now be known as the loads on the bridge. Basically see how much load a bridge can hold before collapsing. These loads will be in a weight range from around 0.5 to about 1.0 LBS. For the experiment I will then be putting the bridges on a table and then a bucket and then the loads will be added until the bridge fails.
6. After wards count the amount of loads that the bridge took and I will make a graph to record those results.
4. Data Analysis- To analyze the results I I will create a chart that outline the ‘TOW’ which represents the Times its own weight factor of efficiency. I will also create a chart to outline the amount of deflection created by the bridge during the experimentation and its weight increments. This chart will then allow for a better conclusion as to which bridge was the most weight bearing, efficient, and best overall bridge.