2021 Summer Camp

Co-hosted by ABC-UTC and SPTC

A participant preparing to load a popsicle stick bridge.

 

Building Bridges – Using Science and Math in Bridge Design Summer Camp 

A one-day summer camp was planned for middle school students in summer of 2020. The summer camp was intended to provide an introduction to bridge engineering focused on the importance of bridges and basics of design and construction. These topics would be presented through a series of hands-on activities illustrating progressively more complicated concepts critical to bridge design and both conventional construction and accelerated bridge construction (ABC).

The activities were developed using materials available from the ABC-UTC, ASCE, and other organizations adapted to the topics of interest. All activities would be performed live during the one-day event, but videos and materials were also to be developed for use as a learning module on bridge design by teachers or parents.

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 and uncertainty about the OU policies in 2021, the summer camp was not held in person as designed. However, materials were still developed that could be made available to teachers and parents and a modified version of the camp was conducted in conjunction with the OU Gallogly College of Engineering Days summer camp for high school students in summer 2021.   

OU graduate and undergraduate students Stephen Roswurm, Cade Harris, and Omar Yadak discussing performance of one of the bridges. One of the water treatment samples is visible in the picture.

Dr. Floyd began by giving a presentation on general aspects of bridge design and utilized the results of testing the foam beams and bridges to illustrate important points for designing adequate bridges. The time required for construction of the popsicle stick bridges led to the accelerated bridge construction activity being more of a demonstration by the graduate and undergraduate students assisting with the camp than a full construction activity by the high school students. The undergraduate and graduate students constructed prefabricated elements and then constructed their bridge to show the reduction in construction time. It was also possible to use the methods that were chosen by the students for their original designs to illustrate ABC techniques. The afternoon activity related to water flow and flooding was tied into the need for careful consideration of stream flow for bridge construction. The use of rapid setting concrete for the concrete mixing and placement done by the students also allowed for discussion of accelerated construction and repair techniques due to the very fast set of the material.

Schedule of events

Session 1 (morning): Bridges 

  • Foam Plate Beam (9:00 am – 9:45 am) 

Students will be given a series of pieces of insulation foam and roofing nails to create a beam required to support a known load across a fixed span. They can try different cross-section configurations to see how different shapes result in different behavior. After the activity the instructor will discuss moment of inertia. This activity is based on DiscoverE (2015). 

  • Bridge Construction (9:45 am – 11:00 am) 

Students will design and build a bridge spanning a known distance using a set number of popsicle sticks and glue. The students will be given a set time for design of the strength and then the time required for the students to build the bridge will be recorded. The bridges will then be load tested to see if the bridges can support the design weight and which group’s bridge can support the largest weight. The instructor will discuss characteristics that led to the best performing bridge. 

  • Accelerated Bridge Construction (11:00 am – 12:00 pm) 

The students will be given the opportunity to rethink their construction methods and asked to rebuild their bridge using prefabricated components. The time required to construct the bridge using prefabricated components will be compared to the original construction time. The instructor will discuss accelerated bridge construction and its benefits.  

Session 2 (afternoon): Water and Soil 

  • Water Treatment Demonstration (1:00 pm – 2:00 pm) 

The instructor will explain the process of water treatment and flocculation and will demonstrate adding a flocculant to dirty water. Each group will be given a water sample and flocculant and will treat the water sample to remove the large solids. 

  • Overflowing the Banks (2:00 pm – 3:00 pm) 

Students will be given a pan consisting of modeling clay soil and will be required to carve a stream system that will be used to show the effects of flooding overflowing the banks. The students will then modify the system with levees to alter the flow of water across the landscape. This activity is based on NOVA (2008) 

  • Demonstrations of concrete behavior (3:00 pm – 4:00 pm) 

Students will mix and cast rapid setting concrete and conventional concrete. The instructor will explain differences in cement chemistry leading to the observed difference in behavior. 

 

References

Discover Engineering (2015) “Building Begins with a Beam” retrieved from https://www.discovere.org/our-activities/single-activity-detail/Building%20Begins%20with%20a%20Beam  

Garber, D. and Lau, K. (2019) “2 Scales, 1 Beam, and Load”, retrieved from: https://abc-utc.fiu.edu/education/k-12-resources/other-k-12-activities/  

NOVA Teachers (2008) “Flood! Classroom Activity”, retrieved from: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/activities/2307_flood.html