Yes the rules such as the bridge length may change but you still get experience from building.bob3443 wrote:the rules will probably change next year(saying that if bridge is an event next year which i think it will be)blue cobra wrote:Will the rules stay similar for next year? I'm on this event, but I do nothing. My partner has his heart set on an arch, which he seems close to perfecting, but I'd like to play with simpler designs over the summer. The rules should stay similar enough that this won't be a waste of wood, eh?
Building is never a waste of wood because you get experience and know how much glue to use, size of wood, etc. you can also test if an arch is indeed better than a non arched bridge.
also on how fast to load, i usually just load fast with my partner, but the day of competition, my partner never showed up so i had to go myself. although the weight goes to one point, if you only load on lets say the left half of the bucket, the loading block might somehow slip a mm to the left, and make it weaker or something(just saying!)
They say that the more time you use the longer the bridge is under stress, which is bad. When i load i just try to put all the sand in the middle, it will even out by itself on each side. So it will form like a cone. I don't belive that it really matters if you put more on one side though, since the weight goes to one point. As long as the rod/chain that goes down to the bucket is vertical, then it's fine. At the NY state competition my MS team said that they weren't used to the hopper system and didnt' position the bridge correctly and the BB's went to one side of the bucket, which they thought was bad. I belive it didnt' have any effect. the handle of the bucket was rmade ope so the chain/rod could rotate to maintiain the vertical position.
2008 NY BLG Champ
