University of San Diego
Department of Engineering
Balsa Bridge Competition:  Fall, 2005

Asst. Profs David Malicky and James Kohl

Rules and Software

Rules
Envelope (Autocad 2002 format)
Envelope (jpg format)
Beginning Guidelines
CME-Truss 2.1 Download
CME-Truss 2.1 Guide/Tips

Competition Results

	Team	Cost	Weight	Load	Load/Wt	Score
		($M)	(lb)	(lb)	lb/lb
Statics Section 1	A		0.23	357	1552	7.4
	B		0.19	251	1321	6.2
	C		0.31	474	1529	7.0
	D		0.56	786	1404	6.5
	E		0.56	1648	2943	14.0
	F		0.25	815	3260	15.3
Statics Section 2	1	5.4	0.37	374	1017	22.8
	2	6.0	0.40	722	1821	40.4
	3	4.8	0.28	905	3185	68.1
	4	6.5	0.46	1453	3126	71.1
	5	3.8	0.14	133	974	16.8
	6	5.6	0.25	588	2362	45.2
Strength of Materials	1		X	X	X
	2		X	X	X

Competition Pictures

(Digital read out shows the total applied load in pounds.)  

Statics Section 1: Team A

357 lbs and only a little worse for wear

Statics Section 1: Team B

This one held 251 lbs and stayed together pretty well.  

Statics Section 1: Team C

After a healthy 474 lbs.

Statics Section 1: Team D

This one went to 786 lbs

Statics Section 1: Team E

This team couldn't wait for the next course (beam and column design).  

Well, not the way it was meant to be loaded, but that column sure is strong.  

Statics Section 1: Team F

Also not quite a truss, but 815 lbs is nothing to sneeze at.  

Statics Section 2: Team 1

Think of it like a moon rocket... Stage 1, which was shed after a hundred pounds or so...

And Stage 2, which went to 374 lbs.

Statics Section 2: Team 2

Sean cranks it down... to 722 lbs.  

Statics Section 2: Team 3

Stephen puts the load on... to 905 lbs.   Best strength-to-weight ratio of the truss bridges.  

Statics Section 2: Team 4

Looks like it might hold a bag of potatoes, no?  ;)  

Off to a good start

Rusty cranking it to a max load of 1453 lbs... highest load of the truss bridges and highest overall score (load, cost, and weight).

Statics Section 2: Team 5

A svelte design -- the lightest bridge of the competition.   

Statics Section 2: Team 6

(Team 6 was gracious enough to test the day before everyone else, though Heather and Katrina couldn't make it then -- Sorry no pic)

Paul puts the pressure on... to 588 lbs.  

Strength of Materials: Team 1

The laser-cut beam-column bridge.  

Pontifex Maximus ready for business

It keeps going...

And going...

To a max load of ______.  

Strength of Materials: Team 2

The constant-strength beam team

Ian warming it up.  

Nearing the max load

This one would have given the test fixture a work-out except for an early glue failure.   Still achieved a max load of  ______.  

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