BRIDG

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C O N S T R U C T I O
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INTRODUCTION

The following bridge folio has been written in a format that would be

good for showing grade 10 students. An integration of hand

sketching, word-processing skills, CAD drawings, internet and

book researching, material selection, safety, sequencing and

Engineering mechanics and materials are all used in writing this

brief. When running this type of program in the school the

video (Brunel’s – ‘The great divide’) would be shown to inspire

students in the bridge design process. Resource books and

pamphlets on bridges and ply would be provided, yet, it would

be expected that students research and write up their folios as

homework. An excursion to Brisbane city to see her bridges or

to a plywood manufacturer would also be good additional ways

of enriching the activity for the students depending on time

limits and budget restrictions. Alternatively, the video on

plywood manufacture (‘The timber industry’) would be shown

to students.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A thanks goes to the following people:

Stuart McKenzie (MISTER PLY & WOOD, Maroochydore) for supplying
pamphlets and technical data on plywood.
Tamara Fitzgerald (BRIMS WOOD PANELS, Brisbane) for supplying
pamphlets, technical data and veneer samples of plywood.

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Tony Smith
School) for
obtaining the
E (Dakabin State High
assisting in
Timber industry
C O N S T R U C T I O
video. N
Bob Watson (Redcliffe State High School) for assisting
in obtaining the Brunel science series videos with bridge
construction information.
Richard Challenor (Starkey & Christoe cabinetmakers) for assisting
with technical data.

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BRIEF

Manufacturing Technology 2
Bridge Building Competition
You are to construct a bridge using plywood as described below. The
bridge can be modelled on any natural or built structure and must
meet the following specifications:
1. The mass of the bridge (and the base material) is to be as
small as possible.
2. The internal width of the bridge is to be not less than 100
mm.
3. The bridge is to consist of a single span of one metre.
4. The bridge is to have the highest structural efficiency (E).
E = LOAD (supported in grams) / MASS (of the bridge)
E = L/M
The maximum Load is to be 25kg.
Materials - Any plywood may be used from the following list:
9.5 mm, 6 mm, 4 mm, 3mm,
2 mm bending ply
1 mm veneer
PVA wood adhesive or hot melt glue may be used.
Other materials may be used provided justification is given to the
lecturer prior to commencement of the project.
Process:
Any process, that will suit the properties of the material, may be
used in the construction of the bridge.
Testing:
The bridge is to be tested with a load of 25 kilograms placed at the
centre of the span (without failure).
Provision must be made for a steel plate to be placed at the centre
of the structure to apply the LOAD.
Time allocation
Week 1 Design and parameters.
Week 2 & 3 Construction.
Week 4 Testing and evaluation.
Assessment criteria
Criterio 6 5 4 3 2
n
1 Quality of production
2 Test efficiency (E)
3 Design and engineering
calculations
And sketches
4 Data & Properties of plywood

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C O N S T R U C T I O
RESEARCHING N PLYWOOD

CHARACTERISTICS

Face grain direction. Plywood is made from slicing

thin veneers of timber into
sheets. These sheets are glued
together with the grain at 90o
to each other. This method
produces a sheet of board that
is engineered to have the
same strength properties in
both plane directions in a
sheet. Most sheets (except
bendy ply) would have just less
than 50% of timber fibres
following the direction of the
face grain, whilst having just
more than 50% of timber fibres
following the face grain.

Five laminates prior to gluing and

pressing.

Natural timber has proven, through testing,

to be strong in both tension and compressive forces.Compression

Tension

Face grain.
Plywood sheets have the natural
tension and compressive strengths
in both directions in the plane of a
sheet. This makes ply good for
membranes, nail gussets in trusses,

Final engineered plywood sheet. 1

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C O N S T R U C T I O
N webs in box beams and ‘I” beams,
as well as bracing in buildings.

RESEARCHING PLYWOOD CHARACTERISTICS

Plywood is stronger in tension when

a force is applied parallel to the
grain rather than perpendicular to
the face grain. This is because
generally ply contains odd numbers
of laminations that are
predominantly parallel to the face
grain.

When force is applied at 450 to

natural fibres less strength is
evident as joins in sheet are placed
in shear to each other.

Reducing its slenderness can

increase capacity of slender
plywood panels. Stiffeners are used
(membranes, webs, etc), and are
more effective if attached parallel
to the force, this assists in gaining
more stability.

Plywood has good compressive

strength in both directions, parallel
to face and perpendicular to face,
yet it is strength is limited with
compressive forces that are 450 to
the face grain.

Plywood can be susceptible to

shear forces with edgewise bending
also.
As = Shear area.
t = Full thickness of plywood sheet.
d = Depth of sheet carrying shear.

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E The thicker the
sheet or the
C O N S T R U C T I O
N deeper the load
For example: area the less
As = 2/3 d t. chance of
As = 2/3 x 30 x 2. shearing of
As = 59.9. plywood sheet,
thus causing

In plane bending is where the

laminations of the sheets of
plywood are put under shear forces
to become ‘un-stuck’, this can lead
to bridge failure also.

RESEARCHING STRONG SHAPES

First goal for building a

bridge is to try and limit the
amount of deflection that it
has. Deflection places
additional stresses on the
bridge structure. Below are
some of the basic strong
Deflection shapes that were noticed in
researching the design of my
bridge.

Honeycomb structure is Castle beam uses

a strong set of shapes that the honeycomb idea.
bee’s use in their hives.

‘I’ section ‘T’ section Box sections ‘U’ section

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Circles (tubes) make strong Triangles also make Combination of 2 ‘U’
shapes. C O N for
S Tstrong
R U Cstructures.
T I O sections joined
N together.

Arched shapes are also Triangles joined together

strong.
Orthotropic beam

Triangle shape with paddle

Pre-tensioned pop sticks and string, the
Box girder section uses concrete string goes into tension
half honeycomb shape beam when force is applied on top
well. of the triangle.

RESEARCHING BRIDGE STRUCTURE DESIGNS

The problem we have as students is

traverse a chasm like the one shown left –
with the lightest possible amount of
bridge weight. There are five basic types
of bridges that are used by bridge
engineers.

1 – Balanced or Cantilever Bridge:

Uses a main pillar with a load balanced
from one or both sides. Would require a
large amount of materials to construct
this type of bridge in this given
competition.
Pros – Can span distance with
compressive and tensile strength
resistance.
Cons – This design works best with a
central support – this is not allowed in this
competition.
2 – Beam Bridge: Uses a pre tensioned
concrete form or strong triangular shapes
to get its strengths. They are often built
with a slight arch across their length.
Pros – Would work well in ply using the
orthotropic beam shape to get strength.

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Cons – Could require a large amount of
ply to be efficient thus become too heavy.
3 – Suspension bridge: Cables are
used to hold the road surface up. They are
quite often arched in appearance and can
span great distances.
Pros – using light fishing line or string
would assist in keeping the weight down.
Cons - Bridge needs to have great tensile
strength and must be firmly anchored to
the ground at the ends – this is not
allowed in the competition.
4 – Arch Bridge: uses the natural
strength of curves to deflect the weight.
Pros – very strong and could be made of
plywood sections with membranes and
webs.
Cons – Needs to have strong support at
point A and B – are the benches used in
testing strong enough?
5 – Truss Bridge: often used with
bream bridge base it utilizes the triangle
frame structure.
Pros – good way of strengthening a beam
bridge.
Cons – requires a lot of extra materials
therefore extra weight.

TYPES OF BRIDGES

The following bridges are examples of current bridges in use around

the world.
Cantilever

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Beam E
C O N S T R U C T I O
N

Suspension

Arch

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Truss

DESIGN IDEATIONS

Concept 1 – Beam Bridge

Gusset plates used to
assist with strength.
Tops of ‘I’ beams Top & bottom of beam
cut back to allow would have a 1 mm
for solid joining veneer sheet glued on
to limit the amount of
twisting.

Arched shape template

Slight arch to assist would be used to
with deflection. construct Beam Bridge
to ensure consistent
arch.

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E ‘I’ beam construction used with 2
mm ply veneer glued together
C O N S T R U C T I O
with P.V.A.
N

Castle beam
construction to
limit bridge
Ply ribs joined with weight.
half checks before
top & bottoms of ‘I’
beam are glued on. Instead of
honeycomb, holes
could be drilled to
save time.

Pros - Finished bridge would have good slimline finish and look quite good.
- Bridge construction utilises the strength of triangles and excess weight
is easily removed.
Cons - Doesn’t utilise the vertical shoulders of the gap being traversed.
- Requires large amounts of plywood for the construction process – too
heavy?
- Doesn’t use large flat surfaces of plywood – so it is susceptible to shear
forces because of thin sections of plywood.
- Requires large amounts of fiddly cutting out of half checks etc.

DESIGN IDEATIONS

Concept 2 – Truss Bridge

Whole structure could be
wrapped in 1mm thick veneer 2 mm bendy
to even further stiffen the plywood bridge
bridge loading capacity. surface

Arched shape template

would be used to
construct Beam Bridge
to ensure consistent
Tubes make ideal arch.
structure members on
account of their
stiffness and low
weight.
‘Frame lashed together with
fishing line and epoxy glue.

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C O N S T R U C T I O
N Gusset plates
1 mm veneer used for could also be used
tubular sections to strengthen the
joints

Veneer wrapped
Joint taped and around solid 12 mm
glued with P.V.A. bar of steel for gluing.

Pros - Very strong usage of tubular sections.

- Would be a very good looking bridge, if tubes were well constructed.
- Very light weight - because tubes of veneer are hollow.

Cons - Construction of veneer tubes would be tedious and time consuming.

- Design of bridge isn’t using plywood so therefore isn’t really testing the
strength of plywood as the brief specify’s.

DESIGN IDEATIONS

Concept 3 – Cantilever Bridge

Top of bridge has a convex 2 mm 5 ply used as top
curve to assist in deflecting to assist in reducing
the weight. twist.

Bridge uses both

‘Curved shape on the vertical shoulders A & B
bottom for aesthetics. of chasm to hold
weight.

Membranes used to limit

the twisting of bridge
under weight.

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Rounded holes cut out Half checks used for 10 mm flush cut
of trusses and joining of membranes dowel for joining
membranes to lighten to cantilever trusses. the two trusses
weight. together.

Pros - Lightweight construction due to only one central truss section.

- Most force would be successfully transferred to points A & B.
- Use of dowels to join the trusses together allow for flexing and torsion –
limits shear.
Cons
- Not the prettiest looking bridge
- Lots of hole cutting to make bridge low in weight.
- Cantilever trusses are central so there is no room for the bolt to go for
weight testing.

DESIGN IDEATIONS ~ CHOSEN DESIGN

Concept 4 – Arch Bridge

Middle is narrower than the ends
1 mm veneer sheet 100 mm
to reduce weight and aid with
wide to assist in reducing
deflection of weight to points A &
twist.
B.

Holes drilled to reduce

Membranes used to weight.
reduce twist in the ply. Extra bracing to assist
in limiting twisting
near weight test hole.

2mm 5 ply is to be
used.

Doubly braced walls of

beam to limit shearing
1 of ply in the narrowest
section.
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C O N S T R U C T I O
N Shape of the base of
Orthotropic beam the orthotropic beam is
shaped curved to assist in
membranes. deflecting weight to
points A & B.
Pros - Lightweight construction by utilising a box section type of beam.
- Usage of curves like arch bridges to deflect weight to shoulders of the
chasm.
- Easy to construct design that looks good.
- Usage of 2mm 5 ply will make bridge very strong in the resistance to
Cons shear forces.

- Middle of bridge is very narrow so is therefore susceptible to failure

through shearing.
- Requires drilling waste out to reduce weight – thus loosing possible
strength.

JUSTIFICATION OF CHOSEN DESIGN

Concept 4 – Arch Bridge

This bridge was deemed to be the best for the competition because
of the following points.

~ The arch design directs the forces towards the vertical

faces of the chasm.
~ The orthotropic beam is a strong shape for resisting the
central forces that will be applied.
~ Using 5 mm ply will assist in keeping the strength in the
narrow sections of the bridge.
~ The bridge design of an arch is an aesthetically pleasing
design; this should fulfil the design aspect of the criteria.
~ The design should be easy to construct and this
increases the chances that the bridge will have good
quality of production.
~ The design should be light enough to be under 200
grams which is the approximate weight that previous
years did well at.
~ The design uses current engineering principles from
bridge construction.
~ Properties of plywood were considered when designing
the bridge, issues like twist reduction with membranes
and finding a 2 mm 5 ply that has very strong qualities.

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~ The
very E bridge design is
interesting and
aesthetically
C O N S T R U C T I O
N pleasing to me
personally and I am very interested to see
how well that it will do!!!

WORKING DRAWINGS

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SEQUENCE SKETCHING

Stage 1. Cut out basic size of

board needed for a template on
the Bench Saw.

Stage 2. Drawing out to scale

the sizes on 6 mm thick Medium
Density Fibre Board (M.D.F.).

Stage 3. Cut out shapes on

the Bandsaw, keeping as close
as possible to the waste side of
the line.

Stage 4. Clean up the convex

edges on the Disc Sander
ensuring that work is done on
the down side stroke of the
sander.

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Stage 5. Using the Bobin

Sander, clean up the concave
edges to a nice smooth finish.

Stage 6. Mark out positioning

of the holes for weight
reduction. And using the Drill
Press remove the holes with
hole saws and spade bits.

SEQUENCE SKETCHING CONTINUED

Stage 7. Transfer these

shapes onto 2 mm 5 ply ready
for cutting out. This enables the
least amount of ply to be used.

Stage 8. Repeat stages 1, & 3

– 6 to get the bridge cut out and
to finished sizes for weighing.

Stage 9. Weigh the bridge to

test overall weight, if unhappy
with weight, more can be
removed by drilling or sanding
edges down to create a smaller
overall shape.

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Stage 10. Both sides get
small tacks nailed into them
along the bottom edges, 2 mm
away.

Stage 11. Glue with P.V. A.,

the sides to the bottom using
the tacks to help with alignment.
Masking tape is used to clamp
ply together.

Stage 12. Fit in the

membranes. These might need
to be sanded on Disk Sander to
get perfect fits. Once fitted
these two can be glued in and
clamped with masking tape.

SEQUENCE SKETCHING CONTINUED

Stage 13. Sand down the top

until all edges are flush, this can
be done on the Disk Sander.

Stage 14. Glue down a 1 mm

veneer top using a 4 mm
template to limit the veneer
from distorting, again use
masking tape for clamping.

Stage 15. After bridge has

dried for a couple of hours it can

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have all the joints sanded by
hand to improve its finish.

Stage 16. After the glue has

finished drying, about 24 hours,
the bridge can be tested. The
whole process could then be
repeated if time allowed and if
the bridge needed improving.

MATERIALS LIST

The following materials are to be used in the construction of the

bridge. See working drawing for details of parts shapes.

Item Item Material Leng Widt Thickn Quanti

No. th h ess ty
1 Sides A grade 1040 120 2 2
model
aeroplane
ply
2mm 5 ply
2 Bottom A grade 1040 35 2 1
model
aeroplane
ply
2mm 5 ply

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3 Membran
es E 2 1

C O N S T R U C T I O
N
A grade 700 100
model
aeroplane
ply
2mm 5 ply
4 Veneer Radiata 1100 100 1 1

MACHINE USAGE & SAFTEY

The following are the identified machines and their related safety
issues identified.

Machin Hazar Risks Compete Risk

e Item ds nce Control
DRILL Electricity Medium, level HIGH Use simple

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PRESS Rotating
Spindle E rules to
guide the
C O N S T R U C T I O students.
N
Risk – Be aware
that loose
clothing can get
caught in
spindle
BAND Electricity Medium, level HIGH Use simple
SAWS (2) Rotating Risk – Be aware rules to
Blades that students guide the
less than 16 yrs students.
need direct
guidance.
DISK Electricity Low to Medium HIGH Reinforce
SANDER Rotating Risk – Work on technically
Spindle the down correct
side Traverse procedures
the up side, in sanding.
Keep moving the
timber, thin
material can get
caught.
BOBIN Electricity Low Risk – Keep HIGH Reinforce
SANDER Rotating the material technically
Spindle moving to correct
ensure procedures
limited burning in sanding.
of material.
BENCH Electricity High Risk – HIGH Need to
SAW Rotating Needs guards, have
Blades Don’t use short competent
material, support
Ensure when
cutting
large
blades sheets two
Students
should work
are together.

sharp!!

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SELF C O N S T R U C T I O EVALUATION
After the whole N process of building
the bridge and testing
it, the following questions were thought about in response to the
bridge building exercise.

1. How well did the final bridge do during testing, did it hold 25kg? How
much weight did it hold? What was it efficiency? What was the best
efficiency in the class?
Yes, my bridge held 25 kg. I was very nervous because I felt that I
had, in my obsession in trying to lighten my bridge as much as
possible, removed too much structure and depth in my beams. To
my surprise, it held 50kg whilst the weight of the bridge was 142
grams. Therefore, efficiency was 344. To my delight and surprise,
this was the best efficiency in the class.
2. What improvements could I have made to my bridge to make it
better?
I feel that to make my bridge better, I could have lowered the weight
by not applying a coat of polish. Which added 6 grams to the weight
and I feel it added nothing to the strength. In addition, I feel that I
made the depth of the beam too small in the middle, which
subsequently caused a fair amount of distortion. I didn’t destroy the
bridge, therefore I don’t know where the weakest points were for
failure, but when referring to my two other prototypes, I could
assume it would be the weakest in the middle section.
3. How did the brief influence my type of design?
Greatly, plywood is a good choice of material, but I wonder if it would
have been my desired material if the brief had been more open.
Balsa is also a very strong material as well as very light and I would
have like to use it, but the brief determines the materials to use.
4. What changes did I make during the manufacturing process?
The first bridge that I manufactured was huge, the second bridge
was quite good in size and weight yet when tested, didn’t hold the
weight. That is why 5 ply 2mm was chosen to increase the bridges
performance. To keep the weight down my prototypes got lighter,
thinner and higher. They couldn’t hold as much weight but the
efficiency ratio was greater.
5. How did my research influence my design of bridge?
Greatly, I discovered the strengths of ply; I also found strong shapes
for my bridge design. Yet, I wonder what type of bridge I might have
designed if I hadn’t researched before I did my concepts of my
bridges?
6. What have I learned from this process of designing bridges?
Ply is a strong and a product that has various uses. Strong jointing
techniques are important and understanding how the forces can be
resisted against load is all-important. In addition, it’s great fun!!!
7. What other bridges did I like?
Scott Rickaby’s bridge took the cake for me… it was unusual design.
I don’t know if it would make a good bridge to walk or drive on yet it

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held the weight
looking
bridges;
bridges
they
E very nicely. The best
were the suspension
looked great and
C O N S T R U C T I O
held the weight quite well too.
N

REFERENCES

Internet sites that are good for Bridges

http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/25/concise.asp?
mod=1&ti=761561057
http://www.discovery.com/stories/technology/buildings/bridges.html
http://www.iit.edu/~hsbridge/database/search.cgi/:/public/international/cur
rent/international_rules
http://www.buildingtechnology.com/bcba/bridges/basics.htm
http://www.iit.edu/~hsbridge/database/search.cgi/:/public/index
http://members.tripod.com/mrlewisclassroom/bridgedesign.htm
http://pghbridges.com/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bridge/
http://www.ndrs.org/physicsonline/bb-menu.html
http://www.bardaglea.org.uk/bridges/welcome.html
http://bellnet.tamu.edu/res_grid/trussb/designs.htm
http://www.ktca.org/newtons/12/bridges.html

Internet sites that are good for Plywood

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~woodlink/woodlink.htm
http://oak.arch.utas.edu.au/tech/ply.html

Books about bridges.

Bull, R. (1989). Starting design and Technology – Structures. London, Bath
Press.
Burns, M. (1982). Math for smarty-pants. Boston: Little, Brown and
Company.
Clarke, D. (Ed.) (1979). The encyclopaedia of how it's built. New York: A &
W Publishers, Inc.
Corbett, S. (1978). Bridges. New York: Four Winds Press.
Dixon, M. (1990). Structures. Turin, Canale.
Gaff, J. (1991). Tell me about building, bridges and tunnels. Spain,
Kingfisher Books.
Lambert, M. (1991). Technology in action – Building technology. England,
Wayland Publishers.
Oxlade, C. (1996). Super Structures. London, Belitha Press.
Science 55 Videotape: The Brunel Experience 1: The great divide: Building
a Bridge.
Spangenburg, R. (1991). The story of America's bridges. New York: Facts
on File.

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Stephens, J. (1976).
other structures. New
Publishing Company.
E Towers, bridges, and
York: Sterling

Stix, G. (1993, Apr). C O N S T R U C T I O Concrete solutions.

Scientific American, pp. N 102-112.
TV Ontario videotape: Trussworthy. Landscape of Geometry series. TV
Ontario: (800) 331-9566.
Whitney, C. (1983). Bridges. New York: Greenwich House.
Wollomir, R. (1994, Jan). Inside the lab and out, concrete is more than it's
cracked
up to be. Smithsonian, pp. 22-31.

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