Downloadables

Base and Tower

Our bases were just barely heavy enough to support the span components without tipping. If the decking is made heavier than in our drawings, base stability should be enhanced by increasing the thickness of the brown-coloured base block.

Quantity: 2

Short Deck Section With Side Pins

These panels form the primary components of the bridge deck.

Quantity: 7

Short Deck Section With No Side Pins

These panels serve to terminate the ends of each of the three bridge spans.

Quantity: 3

Long Deck Section

This panel allows one of the short spans to be self-supporting. The suspender no longer carries load on that span, and its main cable becomes essentially straight.

Quantity: 1

Deck Stiffener

These panels can be overlaid on sections of the bridge, and used to demonstrate how deck stiffening affects the bending flexibility of the bridge.

Quantity: 2

Chains

The chains are one of the most important components of the model, and they should be made of metal chain with links that can be opened and re-closed. We used chain with a pitch of approximately ¼” (7 to 8 mm) as this allowed the suspenders to be positioned accurately. For the model to function well, the main chain and suspenders need to be fabricated accurately, and we used a large board with nails to anchor the main chain ends. The suspender positions were marked on the board and confirmed by counting links. The suspender chains were also measured and their links counted. Extra links on the main chains or suspenders significantly complicate model assembly and we quickly removed them from our early prototypes.” with “If the suspenders are not cut to the right length but have extra links at their ends, it is much more difficult to assemble the model.

Quantity: 2 assemblies, one for each side of the bridge.

Rubber Mats

The mat enhances friction between the bases and the desktop, and without it the bases tend to slide.

Quantity: 2

Ruler

We purposely made the rulers shorter than the bridge span so students would have to think more about the challenges of measuring distance over water or over terrain that might not be easily traversed. (And we did not grant them the luxury of laser-based measuring.)

Quantity: 1

Toy Vehicles

These add a finishing touch.

Quantity: As desired