SJKT NILAI 2013

The Suspension Bridge

DESIKARUBAN S/O GANESAN, HARISHAVINI D/O VATHUMAYOGAM,
NISHAVINI D/O VATHUMAYOGAM, VIDHYASHREE D/O MURUGIAH,
SALAMON S/O ANTONY
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to find the relationship between type of suspenders with
maximum weight it withstand. The result showed that wire suspenders can withstand more
weight. The results also revealed that the bigger circumference of wire suspenders and
plywood deck can withstand more weight.
Introduction
A bridge is used to connect two places by a river or stream. It is a structure built to span
physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing
passage over the obstacle.
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on
vertical suspenders. Suspension bridges in their simplest form were originally made from
rope and wood. Modern suspension bridges use a box section roadway supported by high
tensile strength cables. In the early nineteenth century, suspension bridges used iron chains
for cables.
In a suspension bridge, the force of compression pushes down on its deck, but because it is a
suspended roadway, the cables transfer the compression to the towers, which dissipate the
compression directly into the earth where they are firmly entrenched. The supporting cables,
running between the two anchorages, are the lucky recipients of the tension forces. The
cables are literally stretched from the weight of the bridge and its traffic as they run from
anchorage to anchorage. The anchorages are also under tension, but since they, like the
towers, are held firmly to the earth, the tension they experience is dissipated. Due to the
importance of suspension bridge, we tried to identify which material help the suspension
bridge withstand more weight.
Materials and Methods
Wood, cardboard, nails, hammer, hook, rafia, thread, wire gloves, handsaw, L shape ruler,
measuring tape,plywood,mounting board,
A thick plywood was placed as a basement. The measurement of the plywood is 60 cm x 20
cm.4 pieces of wood were cut to 30cm height, 2 pieces of wood to 20cm, 4 pieces of wood to
10cm. The 10cm woods were nailed on the corners of the basement. 30cm woods were nailed
at every side at the distance of 6cm from 10cm wood. 20cm wood was nailed at the top of the
both 30cm wood to form a tower. 20cm x 48cm mounting board was prepared. Holes were
made for every 9cm distance at both sides. A raffia rope was placed as the main cable from
tower to anchor. It was tied at the end of the anchor. Mounting board was placed at the centre
of the bridge. The deck was joined to the main cable using raffia rope (suspenders).Washer
was tied at the end of rope to ensure it holds the hole tightly and firmly. Bricks were placed
one by one until the bridge break. The weight of the bricks that makes the bridge break was
measured. Data was recorded in a table. The step was repeated with nylon thread and wire as
suspenders. The experiment also was repeated by manipulate size of suspenders using 2 wires
and 3 wires, and type of deck using plywood and mounting board.

SJKT NILAI 2013
0
10
20
30
MOUNTING BOARD PLYWOOD
weight it can
withstand (kg)
Type of deck
Type of deck versus weight it withstand (kg)
0
5
10
15
20
25
RAFIA NYLON THREAD WIRE CABLE
Weight it can
withstand (kg)
Type of suspenders
Type of suspenders versus weight it can withstand (kg)
Results and discussion
Table 1
TYPE OF
SUSPENDERS
WEIGHT IT CAN WITHSTAND (kg)
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 AVERAGE
RAFIA 12.85 10.43 12.85 12.85 12.70 12.33
NYLON THREAD 10.20 10.35 10.35 10.35 10.35 10.32
WIRE CABLE 22.48 22.48 22.44 22.48 22.46 22.45

Figure 1








Table 2
TYPE OF DECK WEIGHT IT CAN WITHSTAND (kg)
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 AVERAGE
MOUNTING BOARD 22.48 22.48 22.44 22.48 22.46 22.45
PLYWOOD 28.14 28.16 28.14 28.14 28.16 28.14

Figure 2






SJKT NILAI 2013
0
20
40
60
80
weight it can
withstand (kg)
0.5 1.0 1.5
Circumference of the suspenders ( cm )
Circumference of the suspenders (cm) versus weight it can withstand
(kg)
Table 3

Figure 3








Discussion : Figure 1 shows that raffia suspenders withstand 12.33kg, nylon thread can
withstand 10.32kg, while wire cable can withstand 22.45kg.Nylon thread and raffia rope are
not elastic material. Means it cannot be stretched. This make the material couldnt hold more
weight. While, wire is an elastic material. Furthermore the cuprum wire inside the cable is
high in strength which makes it to hold more weight. Figure 2 shows that mounting board
deck withstand 22.45kg.While plywood can withstand 28.14kg.This is because plywood is
strong structure which makes it to not bend easily. Which enable it to withstand more weight
compared to mounting board.Figure 3 shows that wire cable with 0.5cm circumference can
withstand 28.14kg, wire cable with 1.0cm circumference can withstand 38.82kg and wire
cable with 1.5cm circumference can withstand 64.66kg.As the circumference is bigger, the
more weight it can withstand because the weight received is shared equally by all the
suspenders.
Conclusion : It is proved that wire suspenders with bigger circumference and plywood deck
is the most suitable material to build a strong suspension bridge.
Acknowledgement : This experiment would not have been possible without the guidance
and help of our headmistress Mrs Anthony Mary Abel, Mrs Selvy Ramasamy, our senior
assistant Mrs Puspah Kandasamy and also encouragement from all the teachers.above all.
References
www.commons.bcit.ca/civil/edufacts/golden_gate.html.www.warwickallen.com/bridges/Susp
ensionBridges.htm.www.eduspace.free.fr/bridging_europe/student%20reports/hannahh.htm
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge.www.design-technology.org/suspensionbridges.htm
www.warwickallen.com/bridges/SuspensionBridges.htm .
CIRCUMFERENCE OF
SUSPENDERS (cm)
WEIGHT IT CAN WITHSTAND (kg)
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 AVERAGE
0.5 28.14 28.16 28.14 28.14 28.16 28.14
1.0 32.83 32.81 32.82 32.81 38.83 38.82
1.5 64.65 64.67 64.65 64.67 64.66 64.66
SJKT NILAI 2013