Concrete Inc. We Are Solid!!

10 Introduction
Concrete Inc. Engineering has been assigned the task of building a bridge that
can allow sports cars and other vehicles to pass over Raging Creek. The bridge
has to comply with specific measurements and statistics in order to keep cost
and weight at a minimum. Designing the bridge means lots of research and
experimentation, to ensure the new bridge does not collapse like the one that
was located over the creek before it. The team of professional engineers
initiated research immediately, and came up with a possible design that would
be able to hold heavy weights, and withstand forces from weights that may
exceed the bridge’s weight by twenty times.

20 Limitations
The Project of the Raging Creek Bridge is to be a very complex and sturdy
structural achievement. However, the bridge has several limitations implied by
the client and may result in many extra days of work and research.
The bridge is to be constructed using nothing but popsicle sticks, string, and
glue. All materials will be supplied in bulk quantities; however the strength of
these materials and their weight will greatly affect how well the bridge
functions. If the materials are too heavy, the bridge may be too weak to hold
weights, as there is a five hundred gram weight limit for the bridge.
The time limit is also a factor that must be taken into consideration, if the bridge
blueprints or design are not submitted within the time limit, the project is
cancelled and the Concrete Inc. engineers would have lost 12 valuable weeks of
continuous work.
Also, due to the cultural variations in the Concrete Inc. working environment,
problems are bound to arise, and this may result in holding back the project, and
may cause severe stress and tension between the group members.

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After the diagrams and blueprints are confirmed, the stage of tendering to other
companies will begin, and Concrete Inc. must choose a group to build their
bridge, and must choose another company to tender for and construct their
design. Communicating with other groups means more time consumption on
forming better relations, and convincing groups that our group is the best
amongst our competitors. There is also the issue of choosing a tender to
construct our bridge, this means weighing the tenders according to their quality
of service, efficiency at work, the cost, time, and amount of resources it would
take to construct the bridge, and several other factors that are to be taken into
consideration.

30 Drawings and Diagrams

3.1 Front View

3.1.1No Ridges:

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(Figure 1)
This is a front view of what our bridge is supposed to look like from a point
without a ridge. The width of our bridge is less than twenty centimetres at the
bottom, and the ridges move along the bridges sides, the hold the bridge’s deck,
and support it and prevent it from bending when weights are applied. The no
ridge points will possess the majority of the bridges base, and the ridge supports
will be placed in the positions where they are most needed, such as the centre of
the bridge and along the sides of where the railings are to be placed.
The ridge supports will help in holding the railings and supporting them in
place, as well as distribute the force from the centre of the bridge’s structure to
its sides.

3.1.2With Ridges:

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(Figure 2)

3.2 Side View

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(Figure 3)
This is a side view of our bridge and what it is meant to look like when viewed
from either side. All dimensions are measured in millimetres, and each line
represents a popsicle stick. The sticks will be placed in a way that makes this
bridge look extremely similar to a truss bridge.

3.3 Bottom View

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(Figure 4)
This is a bottom view of our bridge, and in this diagram, all lines represent
strings, except the lines that form the rectangular shape that surrounds all the
other lines. The main idea of connecting strings in such a way is to distribute the
weights that are placed on a certain point throughout several points at a time
instead of having the force concentrated on a specific point. Each point where a
string comes into contact with the bridge represents a point where two popsicle
sticks meet at the base of the bridge.

40 Specifications
4.1 Materials Used:
In this project, the engineers designing the bridge are restricted to specific
materials. These materials are popsicle sticks, string, and glue. No specific type
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of glue has been specified, and the string and sticks will be provided by the
client.
The bridge deck must be at least 20 centimetres wide, and must span a distance
of 133 centimetres. The bridge’s deck will be made of card or thick paper that
can withstand the loads and weights of the rollers and bricks.

4.2 Construction Instructions

4.2.1Front View

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(Figure 5)
Above is a simple demonstration of how to construct one of the horizontal
connectors that connect either side of the bridge to the other. The sticks have
been randomly positioned in order to give a general idea of what it should look
like from a front angle. Some sticks will be positioned in the opposite direction,
they would be vertical instead of horizontal, and the arrangement of the sticks is
not necessarily similar to the diagram. This is a drawing of what the front view
of a ridge position in the bridge should look like. A non-ridge position would
simply have a double stick support on the top instead of a triple support, so it
would look similar to this one, but would not have two sticks on top of the stick
supporting the “A” shaped beams. Also, the side beams placed diagonally
would not be in the picture. So generally, the non-ridge support would look
something like an “A” in a square box. These supports, whether ridge or non-
ridge, would be placed at every position where there is a vertical stick, or where
two sticks meet. There will be approximately twenty to twenty five of these
supports along the bridge.

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4.2.2Side View
4.2.2.1 Bridge Ends

(Figure 6)
The picture above displays what the ends of the bridge should approximately
look like. In this structure, all the edges sticking out of the sides are to be
removed; this would leave us with a clean and smooth structure that should fit
perfectly onto the abutments. The measurements may differ when actually
constructing the real bridge, these are just simple illustrations of what the
structures could possibly look like, and can be used as a reference when
building the bridge itself.

4.2.2.2 Bridge Sides

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(Figure 7)
This figure demonstrates what one “V” along the bridge’s side should look like.
Due to lack of experimental sticks, the figure can only show one “V” segment.
The measurements in the diagrams above illustrate the dimensions and distances
between each of the “V” segments, and shows how high each should be. The
diagonal segments in each “V” should be glued and attached in between the top
popsicle sticks in order to prevent their motion. All “V” segments must be
strengthened with string along the pivots in order to ensure stability in case the
bridge supports loosen or the glue falls apart.

50 Tender Evaluation Criteria

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As a company willing to sign a contract with Concrete Inc., you

must comply with the following conditions and terms:
• Cost and quantity of materials: We are looking for a team
that is capable of building our bridge for a reasonably
cheap price, one that will allow it to withstand fifteen
kilograms at the very least. The company must also be as
resourceful as possible with the materials given to them to
ensure that the cost of the structure stays at a minimum.

• Time: Concrete Engineering is looking for a team that will

be able to build the designed bridge within 3 weeks
effective of the day tendering is finalised and contracts
are signed.

• Work Ethics: We are looking for a company that is diligent

with deadlines, and arrive at scheduled meetings on time.
We also expect them to be able to organise meetings
outside of class time and be sure that the appropriate
members turn up unless they have a valid reason. We also
expect the contractors to be able to identify any flaws in
the design, and suggest ways to improve it, and just not
build it because they have to. We want a team that is
dedicated to the project, gets straight down to work, and
does not waste any time during the scheduled meetings
between contractors and designers.

• Ability to communicate: Concrete Engineering wants to

contract a team that will readily communicate with
designers and engineers if any problems arise, or if they
have any design modifications that can be done to the
bridge. We want to be regularly updated, with how you are
handling the workload, the progress made during the
week, and your action plan for the following week.

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• Meets our design specifications: You must conform to the

final design we have produced and its specifications;
however, if there are any faults in the design, it may be
changed, but you must consult the designers first and
ensure that both companies agree upon the changes
incurred.

The company that scores the highest on our comparison matrix

will be given the contract, and the responsibility of construction
of our bridge.

Criteria Weightin Company Company Company

g 1 2 3
Cost/Quantit
y
Time
Work Ethic
Communicat
ion
Meets
Design
(Table 1)

60 Disposal Plan
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The bridge design consists mainly of popsicle sticks, made of wood, glue,
paper, and string. The team thought of many methods of getting rid of the
structure, one of them was a bonfire! However, bonfires cause heavy releases of
carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, both emitted as smoke. These gases are
toxic and cause pollution and may harm the ozone layer. Therefore, that idea
was thrown down the garbage chute. An environmentally friendly disposal plan
was what we needed, and since most of the materials used to actually construct
the bridge were recyclable, we decided to dispose of the structure in the nearest
recycle bin after the testing is complete, and the bridge crushed to pieces. This
disposal plan does not harm the environment, and may save a tree from being
cut down, that means just a bit more oxygen for everyone else. The materials
could be recycled and who knows, you might just end up buying a popsicle that
was once part of a Curtin University engineering project that kept students up
all night doing research and work!

70 Certification Statement
Concrete Inc. Engineering and all of its employees certify that the following
client requests listed below will be made and realized to the closest and most
accurate measures that our experience allows. The bridge will:
• Have a maximum length of 1330 millimetres

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(-/+10) and a minimum deck width of 200 millimetres.

• Allow self propelled concept vehicles to cross along the bridge

• Carry three passes of a rolling load along the model bridge:

-1st pass – a roller mounted trolley with a mass of five kilograms
-2nd pass – the same trolley with an additional five kilograms load
-3rd pass – the same trolley with an additional ten kilograms load
• Carry a static load of at least 15 kg placed at the centre of the
bridge span
• Have a maximum self weight of 500 grams
• Be built from popsicle sticks, string, and glue
Name Position Signature
Osama Jarrar Project Manager
Kumbi Chiunda Secretary/ Shaper
Mohammed Al Monitor/Site

Buraiki Designer
Luke Everett Consultant
Elsadig Elamen Image Designer
Deep Shah Resource

Investigator

(Table 2)

80 Conclusions
Concrete inc. has been an active engineering group for quite some time now.
Team members are beginning to strengthen their bonds with one another, and
hopefully soon the company will reach out and attempt to grasp the attention of
larger companies, and attempt to tender for their projects. The experiences the
company members and engineers have gone through have been educational at a
very high level, and have taught the group the basics of communications, and
how to share thoughts through speech, body languages, diagrams and images,
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and through simple text. The multicultural environment has taught us how
people from different countries analyse different types of information. The
group projects have also taught us how to work together as a team, arrange
meetings together, work as one, and communicate with one another with ease.

9.0 Performance Predictions

Reaction Forces at the ends of the bridge due to a 20kg load in the centre of the
bridge:

∑MA= -(196.2*0.665)+(1.33*FFY)=0
FFY = 130.47/1.33
= 98.1kN

∑FY = FJY + FFY = 196.2

FJY =196.2 – FFY
= 196.2 – 98.1
= 98.1kN

∑FX = 0

Since FFY = 98.1kN this makes FFE = 98.1kN

Since FJY = 98.1kN this makes FJA = 98.1kN

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FEG = FFE*√2
= 98.1*√2
= 138.73kN

FGC = -FEG
= -138.73kN

FAI = FJA*√2
= 98.1*√2
= 138.73kN

FIC = -FAI
= -138.73kN

FED = -FEG/√2
= -138.73/√2
= -98.1kN

FDC = -FED
= 98.1kN

FAB = -FAI/√2
= -138.73/√2
= -98.1kN

FBC = -FAB
= 98.1kN

FIH = -FAI/√2
= -138.73/√2
= -98.1kN

FHG = -FIH
= 98.1kN

FJI = 0
FBI = 0
FCH = 0
FDG = 0
FFG = 0

NB: By inspection, all the above forces are zero due to the respective members
being Zero-Force Members.

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10.0 Appendices
Appendix A : Initial sketches of the bridge (attached papers)
Appendix B: Decision on bridge design (attached papers)
Appendix C: Bridge Failure Mode (attached papers)

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