A1- Greenwood

For this first design, I decided to keep a simple truss layout that would be cheap and effective.  The top of the bridge would slowly elevate until a central height was established, and underneath would be several trusses that jut out triangularly.  Considering this first week's assignment was to establish a design the team could build on and improve, I believed the simplest would also be the best.  Here are the images from my design as well as the stress tables and price.

                                         Above is the 2d design of my simple truss bridge.

Above is the 3d design of my bridge with a truck on it.

This is a picture of the stress table feature in WPBD.

During the design process of this bridge, the actual design changed many times.  For example, from my first design I added more joints and more trusses, considering the stress points in the joints were much greater when there were less.  Also, I made the max height of the bridge lower to make the flow of force through it more uniform.  Although adding more joints and trusses increased the price, it also gave me a working design.

Estimated Price : $347,715

This price is high as of right now, but I am confident it can be lowered.  There seem to be too many large trusses that need to be redesigned so that they are stronger and more capable of handling stress.

From this initial assignment, I have learned that simple designs can actually be successful and work.  I also believe that my knowledge can only increase so that I may be able to successfully build cheaper, stronger designs.