Week 2

During the second week of lab our group spent time exploring how to use the Westpoint Bridge Design. We explored the different ways of building a bridge and made conclusions of what were the most cost efective way of constructing a bridge. Among these trials the different ways of constructing a truss were implemented in sample designs to determine which was the most cost efficient. Our plan for the following lab session is to create a bridge design by combining the best aspects of each of our individual designs.
The following bridge is called the Strawberry Mansion Bridge, its located about 5 miles north along the Schuylkill. This bridge is an arch truss bridge and spans about 60 meters. While I was on my bike admiring the bridge, I saw how the cross bars of each section change their direction at the tops and bottoms of the bridges. Even if the arched structures weren't there the trusses would still be structurally sound. Since the direction of the slope of the cross bars are opposite to how the actual bridge is affected by the force of gravity.