Introduction:

In my Structural Analysis Lab, groups were tasked with creating a bridge of balsa wood that could withstand 1000 pounds.

Design Phase:

One of the oldest types of bridges, arch bridges have great natural strength. Instead of pushing straight down, the weight of an arch bridge is carried outward along the curve of the arch to the supports at each end. When supporting its own weight and the weight of crossing traffic, every part of the arch is under compression. (Hudec, 1997)

Design loosely based off of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I was tasked with finalizing the bridge design. Using Autodesk Inventor and Civil3D, I created a 3D model of our bridge, dubbed the Sun Truss, and created a technical model sheet. This was not required for our project, but I wanted to challenge myself, and I’m pretty satisfied with the results!