Project 1: Form and Function

This Project explores the relationship between the function and the form of a given

structure, and promotes fundamental changes of the outward facing aesthetic to

more clearly convey a functional idea that takes place in said structure.

The criteria for completing this project is erecting a 190-foot bridge across a river,

utilizing commonplace items with mechanical properties as inspiration for how the bridge will translate

motion to allow a 30-foot by 40-foot boat to pass through it.

Bridge Conceptualizations

Cable-Stay	Arched	Pennsylvania Truss

Dynamic Movement Conceptualizations

Double Jointed Lever	Lateral Gear Translation	Lateral Screw Translation

Conceptual Movement Integration

	- In this design, one or more of the primary towers can hinge similar to the double joint, in order to lift the roadbed to the required clearance. - Alternatively, one of the towers can act as the primary hinge point while the cables are what laterally move, while the tower remains unmoved.	- This configuration is the most practical of them for this movement system, where the arch is much heavier on one side, to hold the pulley system required to operate the two joints that life the roadbed. - The opposite side would have less complexity, and be thinner than the side that holds the pulleys.	- Similar to the arch, one side would need to be built up to house a system that pivots to raise the roadbed, however: - Alternatively, the hinge can be dead center where the top joint acts as the primary pivot point, and both sides lift the secondary pivots equally.
	- The cable aspect of this design allows the moving roadbed to move while maintaining a level of balance while moving -The primary gear that powers the movement would most likely be located in one or both of the towers, with the shape required to be slightly altered to be able to accommodate the movement.	- The arch in this design should be extremely elongated and much thicker on one side to allow for the primary gear to not only sit inside the structure, but also allow the roadbed to slide into it. - Alternatively, the gear may power the center of the arch and move it out of the way, thus allowing the roadbed to move with it due to the cable locations.	- The gear may be able to shift the struts that hold up the roadbed upward, lifting the roadbed up and out of the way, however this would require a large shift in the placement and amount of truss that the bridge has. - It may be easier to simply configure the design similar to the Arch bridge with the gear movement.
	- One or both towers would pivot on a hinge, however it would also shift upward, allowing the rotating roadbed to sit directly on top of the roadbed that’s stationary. - The cables attached to the towers would not change in length, but would need to be able to stagger with the existing cables on the outsides.	- The rotational pivot would most likely be located hanging from the arch, slightly off-center to help with structural viability - The translational movement would be vertical, allowing the moving roadbed to slide up above the stationary roadbed, allowing the opening to be formed. This would most likely require a much thicker apparatus on the side that holds the pivot.	- The majority of the truss above the area where movement occurs would be unchanged, albeit much denser, and the rotational pivot would be located somewhere within the truss system, and act similarly to the rotational and vertical pivoting in the arch design. - Alternatively, a section of the roadbed, equal in width of the required size, would rotate and move laterally instead of vertically.

Preliminary Designs

Finished Design

Isolated Mechanism

Finalized Transformation

Bridge Animation