Class Assignment is a Snap for Student Bridge Builders

About 85 University of Cincinnati architecture and interior design students hope they’ll hold up under pressure – or that their work does – during a Feb. 25 test of their design skills. 

It will be “cross-or-consequences” for sophomores in a Structures II course led by Thomas Bible, associate professor of architecture, from 1:30-4 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 25, in Room 4400 of UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.  That’s when students must cross eight-foot-long bridges they’ve designed and built from all-organic materials like wood, rope and string.  If a bridge survives the initial passage by one of its designers, it must then support the weight of all group members.  Should it survive this second step, each bridge is piled high with students till it comes tumbling down.  In all, about 30 bridges will be tested.

The assignment, in which students work in small groups of two to four each, is one of their first attempts to translate theoretical design into reality, according to Bible.  The goal is to design and build the lightest bridge possible to hold all the team members.  The very best bridge of years past, for instance, supported 160 pounds of young designer for each pound of bridge. 

The lessons learned in this experience of graceful collapse include the mathematical equations for figuring tension, torque, support and strength needs, materials weight, and – of course – aesthetic design.  Any number of prizes are given based on aesthetics and structural reliability, including humorous awards like “You Should Have Let the Glue Set.”

At the end of the bridge break, the constructive lesson continues as the sophomores must deliver a forensic analysis specifying how and why each bridge failed.  The assignment is part of a series of creative tests for students that start during their freshman year, all of which have contributed to the number one ranking given to UC’s undergraduate programs in architecture and interior design in a recent survey of employers.