Bridge Design Sachin Patel

The bridge that I have constructed costs around $322,122,00. Though this is not a very elegant and fancy bridge it is able to carry very heavy loads. The bottoms beams are 140*140 carbon steel rod solid bars, the inner of the bridge is 160*160*8 quenched and tempered steel hollow rods, with the middle being a combination of 140*140-170*170 carbon steel solid bars. The bridge I wanted to build was a a very strong bridge, so I had first constructed the bridge to be of all quenched and tempered steel, but that costs an upwards of 600K. I knew that was just to unrealistic, so i replaced all the outside beams with carbon steel sold bars that were of the same dimensions. but i kept most of the inside hollow quenched and tempered steel hollow rods, which gave me the most durability and cost effectiveness.

Questions:  Sachin Patel
1) In the lecture we discussed using filters in order to parse through large amounts of data, is there anyway we can filter through the different types of truss bridges?
2) In the lecture we discussed e-books, does the drexel online e-book database hold all hard copy books in e-book form?
3) If i wanted to quickly sort if a source is scholarly or not, what are the tell tale signs of doing so, in a quick and precise manner with only look at the documents details and not previewing it?

Research Questions

Question 1:Where would I be able to information regarding software such as Westpoint Bridge design that can provide a virtual understanding of the mechanisms behind constructing a bridge?

Question 2:Is it possible for the Drexel libraries to be able to transition to delivering the engineering books holdings beyond the paper copy to e-books audiobooks?

Question 3: How would I be able to get access to the actual blue prints of the bridges across seas?

A1-JACOB

Design Image

Truck in Bridge Middle Image

Load Test Results Image

My initial objective was to design a simple truss bridge that guarantees a safe passage for the standard 225kN truck. Therefore, my initial design was a simple and straight bridge, constructed with carbon steel bars with a size of 140mm. Next, I constructed an arc that expanded 36mm and connected the arc to the straight bridge with carbon steel beams crossing each other. The estimated cost of the bridge ranged over $450,000.00. Thus, my new objective was to lower the cost of the bridge while ensuring a safe passage for the truck. Therefore, I identified the redundant beams and removed them from the design. Then I lowered the cost even more by replacing the solid bars with hollow tubes for the interior design of the bridge and only outlining the design with solid bars. After several trial and errors, I identified the beams that didn’t require 140mm in size and replaced it with less thicker beams. After all this process, my new estimated cost of the bridge came out to be $234,466.08. I strongly doubt the cost of the bridge could be lowered with further time and knowledge. Even if it is possible, it will only be lowered by couple hundred dollars. This was a great way for me to experience few of the challenges I can expect to encounter in my prospective job. Through this entire process, I learned several designing techniques and understood the factors that impact the construction of a truss bridge.

A1 - Parth Patel

At first I concentrated to build a bridge that is successful and safe for the truck to pass. Than I started to remove parts, change beams from solid to hollow, and also the thickness of beams, in order to decrease the bridge cost. Originally the whole bridge was composed of solid carbon steel beams of thinkness of 140m, which was changed in to variouse cheaper parts. It went from a large and tall bridge with a peak on top to a simple and straight bridge. The estimated cost decreased from 586,000 dollars to a current cost of 351,588.53 dollars. One main thing I learned is that it is extremely difficult to make a perfect bridge that is completely steady. Therefore, I realized the design does not have to be fancy and complicated to make the bridge survive. In addition I learned to use different types of parts for certain areas of bridge, such as to use solid and strong beams on the outer edge of the structure. I also picked up on few techniques on how to decrease the cost for the bridge. For example, a solid beam can be replaced by two hollow beams to be just as efficient, but still be able to save a little over a thousand dollars.