Civil · Structural Design
Bridge Structural Analysis & Design
Intermediate 5 weeks 35-60 hours
Design and build a scale truss bridge (popsicle/balsa or 3D printed), then load-test it to failure on a rig while measuring deflection. Compare failure load to your analysis.
Major
Civil
Focus area
Structural Design
Total hours
35-60 hours
What you'll need
- load cell 5kg with HX711 amplifier weight sensor kit
- Arduino Uno R3 ATmega328P microcontroller board
- balsa wood strips and sheets pack
- dial indicator gauge 0.001 inch deflection measurement
- calibration weight set for testing
- wood glue and spring clamp set
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Steps
- Design a truss bridge and calculate member forces and expected failure load.
- Build the bridge from balsa strips using wood glue and clamps.
- Set up the load rig with the load cell and dial indicator at midspan.
- Add load in steps and record deflection at each step.
- Load to failure and note where and how it broke.
- Compare measured results to your analysis and document the project for your portfolio.
What to photograph for your portfolio
- Truss bridge build
- load-deflection curves
- failure load vs prediction
- member analysis
Resume bullet starters
Copy one, then swap in your own numbers.
Engineered a bridge structural analysis & design using Structural analysis, mechanical testing, truss design
Applied FEA validation to implement, test, and validate the analysis end-to-end
Skills you'll show off
Structural analysismechanical testingtruss designFEA validation