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.

Week Four

On Thursday, we started making the pads. The pads are at the end of the bridge where the roadbed connects, almost like a support system, so clearly the pads are extremely important. To make them, we had to dig holes and then fill them with concrete. Unfortunately, on Thursday, we ran out of concrete, so we had to stop there, but that didn't stop us for long. On Friday, a team of eight kids went out and continued making and pouring cement as the rest of us constucted the initial frame for the roadbed. In case you were wondering, the roadbed is what hangs from the towers and is what Mr. Bergen has to walk across once we finish construction.

Week Three

Monday, our class took a little break to make skateboards. After that, we continued the bridge and started to build the roadbed trusses. Floor trusses are the beams on either side of to support the plywood. Once we finish that, we started the construction of the roadbed.

Week Two

On Monday, the class started the construction of the two towers. These towers are the support system for the entire bridge itself. Thursday, once the towers were made the class started to put them up and is working so fast that they will be up by Friday. After the towers are up, all that's left is the roadbed and the cables. We are planning to start the roadbed on Monday, and hopefully finish it within two weeks after that. Once they finish that, we have to put the cables up and build a ramp. They might have a chance to paint it, but in lieu of time they might not. Remember, they have to destroy this entire bridge before the end of the year is up, yet after Mr. Bergen walks across it. With only about five weeks of school left, both classes are rushing to get this bridge put up, but with two entire classes of about twenty two students in each, there's no need to rush. Something that takes a few people an entire day to do takes one class about an hour and a half. More will come Monday once the towers are up, the roadbed is started, and the pictures come in!