Research Plan

Research Plan

        The rationale of the project is to find which bridge design is the strongest. This research is important because engineers who construct bridges need to know which type of bridge is safe, strong, and can support most weight. The societal impact of the research is that people who commute over bridges can travel safely and without stress. Calamities caused by collapsing of bridges can be avoided if engineers know which type of bridge is better. Engineers can use the same type of design in constructing bridges when new projects comes up.  

        The question I want to solve is, “Which Bridge Design is the Strongest?” My hypothesis is that the truss bridge will be the strongest bridge and the beam bridge is the second strongest and the span bridge is the third strongest.

        The procedure of the project is very simple. Build three types of bridges with popsicle sticks. Place weight blocks on the bridge until the bridge collapses. There is no risk involved in doing this experimentation. However, weights should be handled with care and not dropped on finger, hands and legs, causing injuries. For each bridge, I will record the number of weight blocks that are added one after the other until the bridge collapses on a chart. Data thus recorded will be analyzed to check how much weight was required to collapse the bridge. The bridge that can bear the maximum weight before it collapses is the strongest bridge design.

Bibliography

http://www.ehow.com/list_5991493_strongest-types-bridges.html

http://www.ask.com/art-literature/strongest-type-bridge-50f06887b552e293

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/project850_57.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/bridge/basics.html

http://www.dtonline.org/vle/mod/lesson/view.php?id=276