Build a bridge out of popsicle sticks and hot glue and then stand on it! Will it hold your weight, or will it collapse and send shards of popsicle sticks flying? There’s only one way to find out, get yourself some popsicle sticks, warm up that hot glue gun, make a plan and build it!
Here’s an mp4 that plays on pretty much everything. Here’s a 3gp and 3g2 for people who like to watch on their phone! Of course if you subscribe in itunes, the videos and accompanying pdf get downloaded automatically for you, no muss no fuss. You can browse all the Make: videos on blip.tv and youtube and revver or on the weekend projects page at your leisure! – Subscribe Link
10 thoughts on “Bridge Building – Make: Podcast”
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Popsicle sticks are really inefficient. The efficiency rate of theses structures are really low.
What do you mean inefficient? In our Structures class I produced a bridge that required a hydraulic press and withstood 1,800 lbs (for a 2 foot span) The bridge failed at a joint after being left in a hot car all day. (stupid, stupid, stupid) If it would have been legal to pin the joints who knows how much it would have withstood. The trick is to build a form that allows one to glue the sticks into I-beams. Then construct a scale railroad bridge. I used scrap tong in grove flooring to make a jig that allowed me to produce straight continuous I-beams by the board foot. A good furniture making glue is a must. Dimensions were 24″x6″x6″ and the bridge was structurally indeterminate. I got an A.
Structural Efficiency = Load Supported/ Mass of Structure
How much did your bridge weigh?
Ok, does anybody have the casio keyboard beat (That is used in the beginning of this podcast) as an isolated sound?
i have the casio keyboard, go ahead and shoot me an email at bre@makezine.com and describe the recording you want and I’ll set you up.
bre