Spaghetti bridge
Encyclopedia
A spaghetti bridge is a small scale model
bridge
(architectural model
) made of spaghetti
or other hard, dry, straight noodles. Bridges are constructed for both educational experiments and competitions. The aim is usually to construct a bridge with a specific quantity of materials over a specific span, that can sustain a load. In competitions, the bridge that can hold the greatest load for a short period of time wins the contest. There are many contests around the world, usually held by schools and colleges.
in British Columbia
, started in 1983. The winner of the 2009 competition Norbert Pozsonyi and Aliz Totivan of the Szechenyi Istvan University of Gyor in Hungary
. They won $1,500 with a bridge that weighed 982 grams and held 443.58 kg. Second place went to Brendon Syryda and Tyler Pearson of Okanagan College with a bridge that weighed 982 grams and held 98.71 kg. The competition is open to contestants around the world, however the rules state that contestants must be full-time secondary or post-secondary students.
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
bridge
Bridge
A bridge 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...
(architectural model
Architectural model
An architectural model is a type of a scale model, tangible representation of a structure built to study aspects of an architectural design or to communicate design ideas to clients, committees, and the general public...
) made of spaghetti
Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy it may be made with other kinds of flour...
or other hard, dry, straight noodles. Bridges are constructed for both educational experiments and competitions. The aim is usually to construct a bridge with a specific quantity of materials over a specific span, that can sustain a load. In competitions, the bridge that can hold the greatest load for a short period of time wins the contest. There are many contests around the world, usually held by schools and colleges.
Heavyweight Contest
This annual competition, held at Okanagan CollegeOkanagan College
Okanagan College is a public, post-secondary institution with over 120 certificates, diplomas, degrees and programs including Apprenticeship & Pre-apprenticeship Trades programs. It is located in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, started in 1983. The winner of the 2009 competition Norbert Pozsonyi and Aliz Totivan of the Szechenyi Istvan University of Gyor in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. They won $1,500 with a bridge that weighed 982 grams and held 443.58 kg. Second place went to Brendon Syryda and Tyler Pearson of Okanagan College with a bridge that weighed 982 grams and held 98.71 kg. The competition is open to contestants around the world, however the rules state that contestants must be full-time secondary or post-secondary students.
Contests
Spaghetti bridge building contests around the world include:- Abbotsford School District http://www.sd34.bc.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=944111&pageId=3647818
- Budapest Tech http://reccs.hu/en
- Camosun CollegeCamosun CollegeCamosun College is located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2009 it had over 12,500 full-time and part-time students between its Lansdowne and Interurban campuses. The Lansdowne campus provides university transfer and access programs, as well as career, technical and vocational...
http://camosun.ca/learn/programs/civil/index.html - Coonabarabran High School http://www.coonabarab-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/news/spaghettibridge.htm
- Ferris State UniversityFerris State UniversityFerris State University is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1884 as the Big Rapids Industrial School by Woodbridge Nathan Ferris, an educator from New England who later served as governor of the State of Michigan and finally in the US Senate where...
http://www.ferris.edu/sbridges/ - George Brown CollegeGeorge Brown CollegeGeorge Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three full campuses in downtown Toronto, Ontario...
http://www.georgebrown.ca/techcity/techcity2006/spaghetti_bridge.asp - Institute of Machine Design and Security Technology http://reccs.hu/en/node/82
- Italy High School http://www.italyhighschool.org/spaghetti%20bridge.htm
- James Cook UniversityJames Cook UniversityJames Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The university has two Australian campuses, located in Townsville and Cairns respectively, and an international campus in Singapore. JCU is the second oldest university in Queensland—proclaimed in 1970—and the...
http://www.ece.jcu.edu.au/Community%20Resources/SpaghettiBridgeCompetition2007.pdf - Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
http://www.jhu.edu/news/audio-video/spaghetti.html - McGill UniversityMcGill UniversityMohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
http://www.scybolt.com/spaghetti_bridge.html - Nathan Hale High SchoolNathan Hale High SchoolNathan Hale High School is a public high school in Seattle, Washington. Nathan Hale is part of the Coalition of Essential Schools.-Early years:...
http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/hale/bridge/spaghetti_bridge_rules.html - Okanagan CollegeOkanagan CollegeOkanagan College is a public, post-secondary institution with over 120 certificates, diplomas, degrees and programs including Apprenticeship & Pre-apprenticeship Trades programs. It is located in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada...
http://www.okanagan.bc.ca/departments/engineeringtechnologies/spaghettibridge.html - Rowan UniversityRowan UniversityRowan University is a public university in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA with a satellite campus in Camden, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a twenty-five acre tract of land donated by the town...
http://users.rowan.edu/~everett/courses/frcli/spagBrdge.htm - University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
http://www.physics.ubc.ca/outreach/web/JPEC/jpec_2005.php - University of South AustraliaUniversity of South AustraliaThe University of South Australia is a public university in the Australian state of South Australia. It was formed in 1991 with the merger of the South Australian Institute of Technology and Colleges of Advanced Education. It is the largest university in South Australia, with more than 36,000...
http://www.unisa.edu.au/unisanews/2007/May/spaghetti.asp - University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
http://ae-www.usc.edu/news/spaghettiBridge/ - University of Technology Sydney http://www.eng.uts.edu.au/NewsandEvents/News/BridgeBuilding.htm
- University of AndesUniversity of the Andes, ColombiaThe University of the Andes , is a coeducational, nonsectarian private university located in city centre Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1948, the University has 9 faculties: Administration, Architecture and Design, Arts and Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Law, Economics, Engineering and...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8333978.stm - Winston Science http://www.winstonscience.org/wsci/events/2009/spaghettibridge.shtml
- Woodside Elementary School http://www2.hamiltondist.k12.wi.us/currentnews/news-print.php?id=377
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul http://www.cpgec.ufrgs.br/segovia/espaguete
See also
- Balsa wood bridgeBalsa wood bridgeThe building of balsa-wood bridges is very often used as an educational technology. It may be accompanied by a larger project involving varying areas of study....
- BridgeBridgeA bridge 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...
- Trusses
- StaticsStaticsStatics is the branch of mechanics concerned with the analysis of loads on physical systems in static equilibrium, that is, in a state where the relative positions of subsystems do not vary over time, or where components and structures are at a constant velocity...
- PhysicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
- Civil EngineeringCivil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
- Problem Based Learning
- Architectural structureArchitectural structureAn architectural structure is a free-standing, immobile outdoor constructed element. The structure may be temporary or permanent.Structures include buildings and nonbuilding structures . Examples of building structures include houses, town halls, libraries, and skyscrapers...