Project 1

Spans

I chose to use a Cantilever, Arch, and Cable stay bridge for the initial inspiration for the design.

Movement Analogy

In reference to the bridges, I chose to related the forms of movement to a spray bottle, a cassette tape and a collapsible umbrella

3x3 table

Then we began the creative element of the process, thinking of different ways to mesh the objects and the bridges together. I came up with a lift Cantilever bridge, a collapsing Cable stay bridge, and the design that I eventually chose to roll with, a pulley based Arch bridge.

Design Process

From there, my idea of a drawstring pulley bridge got altered heavily from the start, due to the fact that we couldn’t move the road bed, but I settled with a more transformative design for the final bridge. The following is a handful of pictures from the design process.

Opening animation

A simple animation of how the bridge opens. The big winches on the further ends of the design pull the cable from the road towards itself. The circles attached above the opening, and which are perpendicular to the bridge act as the closed end of the drawstring, so the cable remains still at the top, allowing the section of road to rise.

Final Product

This is the completed drawstring bridge, from an aerial view.