Description

Engineers must ask many important questions before designing and building a bridge: What type of bridge is best suited for this project? What materials should be used? What safety features will the bridge have? In this extraordinary, hands-on curriculum, students are faced with a similar set of questions, only on a smaller scale. As they learn about everything from correctly placing abutments, piers, piles, and trusses to evaluating the effectiveness of a bridge, students are putting their engineering knowledge into practice by designing, building, and testing a balsa wood bridge. In addition, great engineering structures of the past and present are covered with interesting facts and histories, including descriptions of the geodesic dome, Hoover Dam, and the Brooklyn Bridge.