A1: Ngov

The first design in West Point Bridge Design possessed a boxed like shape design similar to the following:

The failure in the top beams of the bridge failed so by the end of the week, a design that was created and might be used for the end was:

The shape of the bridge has an arch like shape spanning vertically up because it seemed to be the most efficient and costs effective as opposed to the other type of boxed designs spanning vertically up or down. More information of the change is explained.

The view of an object attempt to cross the bridge looks like the following:



The load test results of the beams used in the bridge can be seen below. The highest amount of compression force was in three of the beams furthest from the bottom on top of the bridge in the middle. The highest tension force was in the middle beams on the bottom of the bridge. The reasoning of the beams in compression or tension is acceptable and understandable because compression is when an object has decreased the volume or surface area by applying a load on a surface and tension is when there is a force that is stretching the surface area to a higher amount of surface.

 

The design seen previously began as a square shaped figure but eventually changed to an arch shaped design with beams placed higher for a lower compression force in the beams. Also, the failure level of the weight load was much too low in the previous design. In addition, the efficiency ratio of a box shaped design was insignificant compared to the design seen here. The cost of the design priced out at $353962.48. Over time, the price should be able to decrease near $300000 once further knowledge and research on bridges is gained. Throughout the process of designing on West Point Bridge Design, the concept of trial and error was experience and utilized to learn how gussets and beams functioned as a whole as opposed to an individual tasks.