Balsa Bridge Contest

Boy Scouts of America - Troop 401 - Steubenville, Ohio

At an October 2002 troop meeting, the scouts were given a presentation on engineering which included bridges. Then they were challenged to participate in a balsa bridge contest and were given three weeks to design and complete their bridges.

At two Troop meetings in November, the scout patrols brought their balsa wood bridges to be tested for load carrying ability. The scouts worked very hard designing and building their bridges. The results are shown below.

TROOP BRIDGE DESIGN CONTEST RESULTS

Patrol Bridge Weight Bridge Load @ Failure Structural Efficiency
Polaris 9.3 oz 219 lbs 376.8
Senior 8.6 oz 176.2 lbs 327.8
Nam 10.6 oz 130.6 lbs 197.1
Dragons 9.2 oz 94 lbs 163.5
Bravo 12.9 oz 80 lbs 99.2
Desert Storm No participation    
Flames No participation    


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Last Updated February 2, 2003