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Lesson 17: Building Bridges
Lesson 18: Bridges
Lesson 19: Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Lesson 20: Bridge Challenge
Lesson 21: 50 Pound Truss Bridge Build
Lesson 22: Dams
Lesson 23: Dam Challenge
Lesson 24: Tunnels
Lesson 25: Tunnel Building in Action

Quick Links:
Civil Engineering 1
Civil Engineering 3

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Lesson 17: Building Bridges

What keeps building from toppling over in the wind? Why are some earthquake-proof and others not? We're going to look at how engineers design buildings and bridges while making our own.

Here's what you need:

Index cards
Blocks
Straws
Clay
Disposable cups

Watch the video:

Download Student Worksheet Exercises

Exercises

What are three different kinds of forces?
Using only blocks, what kind of wall design is the weakest?
Why does the bridge seem stronger when a card is arched underneath?

Lesson 18: Bridges

How do bridges work? There’s over a half million of them in the US alone. Why are some curved and others straight? Why are some made of rock and another has steel cables? Civil engineers need to look at how far a bridge will span, what types of materials are available, and more to help them figure out which type of bridge to make it.

Lesson 19: Tacoma Narrows Bridge

In 1940, this suspension bridge spanned Tacoma Narrows for only 4 months before it collapsed. Notice the lack of truss structure on the bridge... what does that tell you? How would you improve this bridge in the future?

Lesson 20: Bridge Challenge

The best way to learn about civil engineering is to do it. You're going to figure out where to put each of four different bridges based on location and design specifications as well as build your very own right now.

Materials:

popsicle sticks
hot glue gun & glue sticks
two tables spaced apart
water bottle
string

Lesson 21: 50 Pound Truss Bridge Build

Now that you've had some bridge-building experience, it's time to really get smart about it and plan ahead. Let's build a bridge that will probably use less materials and hold 50X more weight that it did before.

Materials:

popsicle sticks
hot glue gun & glue sticks
two tables spaced apart
5 gallon bucket
water

After you've completed this bridge and find yourself wanting to build more advanced popsicle stick bridges, check out Garrett Bridges - they have a wonderful selection of really awesome bridges that you can purchase online instructions for.

Lesson 22: Dams

Dams help people get the right amount of water in the right place at the right time. Too much water and you get a flood. Too little and crops die. Dams protect people, store water for drinking and growing plants, and make hydro-electric power.

Lesson 23: Dam Challenge

Let's test your knowledge and see what you think we should do in each of these real-life dam issues.

Lesson 24: Tunnels

What kid doesn’t know about tunnels? Tunnels are underground passages or passages through something. Tunnels have not always been safe for people. It took engineers thousands of years to learn how to dig a tunnel right.

Lesson 25: Tunnel Building in Action

It's hard to imagine how a tunnel boring machine actually works digging through solid rock. Here's an animation to give you a better idea how it digs and removes rock so it can tunnel along, as well as build up the strong tunnel rings as it goes forward.

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