Bestest Bridge Ever

The platform = Coolest part of my bridge

Charlie's Bridge

This week has certainly been filled with excitement as the final aspects of th bridges are beginning to come together.  Unfortunately, classmate Charlie Clapp has struck upon some unforeseen difficulties.  For the past few weeks he has diligently been making many trusses with which he will glue together to create his final bridge design.  However, he may be regretting this building technique.  Over the last few days I have overheard many sounds of desperation and despair from his corner of the room as he works on gluing all of the small pieces together.  Despite the tedious work and unfortunate setbacks, he has made significant progress overall. 

Although the rules do not explicitly state that you cannot use all four sides of the chasm (which must be spanned) for support, Charlie has devised a plan that will works around the rules. In fact, he has created a design that will use all available surface to keep his bridge afloat.  If his bridge ultimately performs poorly I am sure that he will receive no grief from classmates.  However, if it turns out to to be a strong design I am sure that he will be criticized for his sneaky way of working.

Now, my bridge, despite the slow process of cutting notch joints and making up my design as I go along, is coming together quite nicely.  Most recently I have completely finished the two sidewalls and began to connect them together.  Yesterday I made the platform from which the load producing bucket will hang.  I'm not going to lie, it looks pretty dope.  I'm not sure how practical all of the woven beams are, but they look wicked cool so I decided to take the extra time to put them in.  Other than building that platform, I have not been able to do much else.  Earlier today I was able to actually connect the two sidewalls with the platform along with six other single beams dispersed throughout the structure to make sure that the walls are vertical and parallel to each other.  I doubt I will need to add any further support to my bridge, and I will probably spend the next few days make sure that it looks cool.  Even if my bridge does not ultimately perform well, I know that it has been made with a loving heart and precise scalpel work. 

Love,

John Clapp