Monday, October 19, 2009

Cable-Stayed Bridge Complete

I have completed, for now at least, my K'nex cable-stayed bridge. The bridge measures 55 feet long with a 25 foot central span which rises 3.5 feet above the ground. The two supporting towers measure just over 7 feet high and the road deck is 7 inches wide and 1.5 inches thick. The bridge is supported by over 200 feet of cables and uses just over 9000 pieces. If the bridge can support it, I may double the width of the road deck.

Pix or it didn't happen:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Bridge construction delayed... several times

Due to midterms, excessive amounts of homework and cold/rainy days I have not been able to get any work done on the bridge, and have left it sitting in it's half-built, semi-stable state. Of course Murphy's law decided to troll me with a surprise 2-inch snowfall in early October... Naturally the weight of all the snow on the road deck caused half the bridge to collapse. Since one of the towers is now a 2.5 foot pile of rubble I will need to wait for everything to melt and dry off before I can do any more work. I DO intend to finish, however, even if i have to wait out the winter.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

K'nex Bridge Setup Begins


I extended the height of the main towers by another foot and placed both of them outside to begin attaching the road deck. The progress is very slow going because one 5-foot section of bridge takes an hour to construct due to the strength requirements. So far I have both of the lead-in ramps nearly completed, and some test cables in place balanced by a 7-foot section of the main span. The cables in this image are made of K'nex chain, but I will probably end up using rope due to piece limitations.