Truss Bridge

Project Snapshot

The ultimate project to illustrate the power of triangles! The challenge is to build a bridge that can hold the most weight and is at least 3 craft sticks long.

The truss bridge is comprised of repeating triangles, and the shape of the bridge itself forms a triangular prism, resulting in an ultra-strong structure.

Get the lesson plan and project sheet for this activity

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Tools and Materials

The Engineering Creation Kit has everything you need for this project and many more from STEM Inventions (except the scale setup), or get the supplies in bulk:

Tips and Troubleshooting

If the bridge is breaking before holding 20lbs, then...

Emphasize good gluing techniques. How the bridge is built is just as important as the truss pattern.
Overlap weak areas with more craft sticks.
Add more trusses.
Make sure the rope is being woven through the bridge so it hangs from 4 points. Hanging the rope from just 2 points will only test the strength of the craft sticks.

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