Technology Tournamant

The Bridge - This was the 2015 Task

Winners 2015

You are members of a team of engineers involved in the design, construction and testing of a bridge over a river. The bridge is to be built before the entrance to a busy port.  The bridge is to be in two sections, one is permanent and the other has to be opened to allow tall ships to pass through. You will construct a model of your bridge on the baseboard provided. A fully dimensioned drawing of your baseboard is provided.  You may fix your bridge to the support pillars but not to any part of the flat areas (the river!)

Your design must fulfil the following criteria and these will attract points in the final test:

The larger span (500mm) must have a permanent roadway.The smaller span (160mm) must be able to be tilted to allow tall ships to pass through. 225mm high x 100mm wide at the base)  A model tall ship is available from a Judge for testing purposes

 Both sections of the bridge should have sufficient clearance beneath to allow the passage of a 25mm high barge. A model barge is available from a Judge for testing purposes.

 You should provide a mechanism to open and close the bridge. This mechanism must be a permanent part of the structure and could use pulleys, thread / string, linkages or other means.

 Both sections of the bridge must have the strength to support the passage of a 1Kg test weight. (50mm wide x 100mm long x 25mm high) This should be pulled, by an attached string, slowly across the full length of the bridge.  The test weight will be held for 5 seconds at the centre point of both bridge sections. The model small barge should be moved under the bridge to check clearance under load.

 After  the  weight  test,  the  moveable  part  of  the  bridge  should  be  opened  using  your mechanism, held open for the ‘tall ship’ to move through and then closed. The test weight shall then be returned across the bridge to the start point, being held for 5 seconds at the centre point of both bridge sections.

 A suitable logo should be designed for the bridge, which promotes a charity of the Teams choice.

A Portfolio must be produced as part of your design and planning and should include:

     All drawings and working sketches

    Design principles and analysis

    Reasons for choosing the final design

    How your team is being organised

    How ideas were thought of and developed

    The challenges that have to be overcome