well, have you guys ever done it?

Im actully trying mine now and I was trying to see if you guys had any special tips I could use from older experiences.

This bridge thing is pretty common in a lot of countries, so I'm sure a lot of you already done it..

thanks in advance

Wats does this involve actually?
What are the competion's rules?
(Very confused)

i know in grade 5 we build toothpick bridges with a hot glue gun

to treated it like an actual constructions site, with "checks" and cost for toothpicks and all taht

ours was able to hold the weight of a full grown male human

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Originally posted by ibisdevil2
Wats does this involve actually?
What are the competion's rules?
(Very confused)

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Originally posted by NiteMare
ours was able to hold the weight of a full grown male human

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I did this too, but i forgot what was the trick. But if you dont waste points on getting lots of tooth pics then i suggest you use as many toothpics until u reach 95 grams. Make the best of what u have.

the lower it is to the ground the better... that's all I really know... and for it to have to be that long you'd need supports in the middle ... remember... sometimes the simpliest design is the best.

apparently, using triangles on the SIDE part gives strength for example

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^^^^
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using finished toilet paper rolls for support on  the bottom

youl need to have many cross braces, iv drawn a simple design in pain as an eg. its crap ino but its only to show what i mean.

Man whe had to do this in Design tec, ours held like 32 or so kilos... Use hard borad paper to make joints, prefereably in froms of traingles...

Dunno if it will halp, btw DJKAL's design should work, we used it also.

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Originally posted by The Napster
prefereably in froms of traingles...

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Practice on BSC II

Use some Carbon Fiber! It's damn strong stuff. Use that for the road and base supports and you'll be good to go.

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Originally posted by wj
Use some Carbon Fiber! It's damn strong stuff. Use that for the road and base supports and you'll be good to go.

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quote:

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Originally posted by wj
Use some Carbon Fiber!

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The best bridges at a minium weight are toothpick bridges that are truss bridge designed.

The best way to design your bridge is to first look at the different types of bridges built by engineers today.

[url] http://www.brantacan.co.uk/truss.htm[/url] for some excellent theory and examples.
Don't use the wimpy toothpicks that you typically find in the grocery store. Coloured cocktail toothpicks are very strong and make for a good structure. These are usually found in the picnic or party section of your grocery store.
Good glue is a necessity for strong toothpick structures. Use a fast-drying epoxy type glue for maximum strength and workability. Wood glues are also good, but take a long time to set. If you decide to use epoxy, be very careful with it. don't use SuperGlues,they're expensive& do not have good long-term strength and will not give you the best results on porous, wooden sticks.
If you do choose to use the wooden ones,You can also soak the toothpicks to make them bendy..if needed..

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Originally posted by beamy-kitty
You can also soak the toothpicks to make them bendy..

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make the bridge very low to the ground! small supports in the middle, the closer to the ground the better, i sugest takking construction paper and folding it then roling it up, try and crush it, its nearly impossible because they are compacted to their maximum already