Finale!

We finally finished the bridge this week! First, we made sure all the cables were attached and the roadbed suspended from them. This took some expert knot tying since we were using rope for the cables, but we had an expert or two. Mr. Bergen decided to test the bridge early and we had a small issue though; one of the pieces in our span started to pull apart. The wood cracked and the center span looked as though it may collapse. Mr. Bergen came up with a solution of some metal plates to tie the pieces together. The students jumped into action and the crisis was over. Next came the arduous task of putting the decking (plywood) onto the truss sections. This required some precise fitting, but with the use of reciprocating saw and drill it was accomplished. Then many students needed to secure the decking down with some screws and we were ready for our test. The majority of those who worked on the bridge were able to stand on it with Mr. Bergen on our last day of school. Quite a few were unable to make the photo, but their work does not go unappreciated. (Mr. Bergen authored this post, but the credit goes to Rachel for creating and updating this blog)

Some other work shots from this last week:

Week Seven (continued)

With only four days left to finish this bridge, we're in pretty good shape. Yesterday, we finished putting together and putting up the frame for the bridge, the roadbed sections and laying the ramps that lead up to the bridge. Today, we just have to finish putting up the cables, which we're almost done with. It's really just the process of looping the black cables through the various holes in the two towers and then streching them out to the various parts on the bridge. The cables are very important, they provide extra support for the bridge and are what controls the comprssion and whatnot when someone or something walks across the bridge. We were going to paint the bridge, but since we still have to finish the cables (which we might not finish today), all the little things, and then take it down by Wendseday, we might not have time. More to come Tuesday!

Week Seven

As we near the end of the year, we're really rushing to finish this bridge. Today, we have a lot to accomplish. First, we have to attach the roadbeds to the main part of the bridge. Next, we have to link the cables through the bridge. Once we finish these two main things, we only have a little left to do. At least we finished the tough part (constructing all the pieces), now we only have to put it all together and attach it. More to come later with pictures!

Week six (continued)

It's the end of the week, and we're making great progress. Many of the students stayed after this week with Mr. Bergen and finished making the long roadbed sections. Today and tomorrow we will be finishing up the roadbeds. It is expected that by the end of next week the bridge will be completed and ready for Mr. Bergen to walk across. To accomplish this goal, both classes are going to need to work extremely hard, including staying after school next week. Unfortunately, we still need to make time to rip down the wonderful bridge that we worked so hard on. That's okay though because for some people, ripping it down is half the fun! More to come next week (with more pictures too)!

Week Six

With only twelve days left of school, Mr. Bergen is a little anxious to finish this bridge. For the last two days, and probably the rest of this week, both classes have been working on the roadbeds. In addtion to that, both classes are also working on the long roadbed sections. These sections connect the center span of the bridge and connect to the ground. Well, that's basically what were doing the rest of the week. More will come next week, though then we will be really pressed for time because with all the field trips (Quassy and BHS) we might not have time to build this bridge and then destroy it.

Week Five (continued)

Today, we're not working on skateboards; we have a lot to do, and little time to do it. We have only finished the middle section of the roadbed, so Mr. Bergen has both classes working around the clock, well actually only an hour a day, on the rest of the roadbeds. Both classes are working hard on finishing these roadbeds, and once they're done we get to do the fun stuff, so as you can imagine, both classes are working hard and fast. More to come later!

Week Five

After a long weekend, the class really only wanted to finish the construction of their skateboards; so that's what Mr. Bergen let them do. Actually, both classes have been working on their skateboards for a very long time, even before the bridge. When the bridge pieces came though, both classes wanted to get a jump start on that, so they kind of put a halt on the skateboard making. Now though, since we're heading towards the end of the year, they want to finish their boards, so that's what we're doing. To catch you up on the status of the bridge, its basically the same as last time. The class finished pouring the pads. More to come Thursday.