Scores B/C

[embokim]

Please tell me how to get that good of a score

[lukas]

First place for bridge building c division at the southeastern PA regionals was 2439.

Don't know about other placement scores.

[chalker]

Please tell me how to get that good of a score

First you need to do research. Read through the threads here on SciOly and the corresponding Wiki page to start with.

Then you need to practice. Build a bridge, test it to see where it fails, then revise your design and build another. Rinse and repeat.

I'd guess that the best teams in the country go through dozens if not hundreds of practice bridges over the course of a season.

[Friedoyster3]

First place for bridge building c division at the southeastern PA regionals was 2439.

Don't know about other placement scores.

Harriton HS?

[lukas]

Yes, harriton got 1st.

[bernard]

Please tell me how to get that good of a score

First you need to do research. Read through the threads here on SciOly and the corresponding Wiki page to start with.

Then you need to practice. Build a bridge, test it to see where it fails, then revise your design and build another. Rinse and repeat.

I'd guess that the best teams in the country go through dozens if not hundreds of practice bridges over the course of a season.

I'd like to emphasize that for each new bridge you make, if your original design is workable (it holds the bucket, doesn't have violations, etc) then you should be revising your design rather than testing a radically new design each time. Your bridges will get better if you strengthen points of failure, and if you try a new design every time, you won't exactly know where it fails.

[sjwon3789]

So this has been mentioned previously, that bringing the same bridge that was tested to the competition is a bad idea. Would it be a bad idea no matter what? Is it fine to test it to a load of 5kg - 7.5kg and see what happens, or should I just resist from using that same bridge and just build a new one?

Thanks.

[Ripplestar]

Please tell me how to get that good of a score

First you need to do research. Read through the threads here on SciOly and the corresponding Wiki page to start with.

Then you need to practice. Build a bridge, test it to see where it fails, then revise your design and build another. Rinse and repeat.

I'd guess that the best teams in the country go through dozens if not hundreds of practice bridges over the course of a season.

I'd like to emphasize that for each new bridge you make, if your original design is workable (it holds the bucket, doesn't have violations, etc) then you should be revising your design rather than testing a radically new design each time. Your bridges will get better if you strengthen points of failure, and if you try a new design every time, you won't exactly know where it fails.

1: Our bridge was triangular in side view, just going to throw that out there.
2: Instead of bringing a new design to each invitational, our team made one design and optimized it, like Bernard said.
3: Our bridge was very simple. Just balsa wood and superglue.
4: We attended a building workshop that taught us some very helpful building techniques.

[Scioly99]

So this has been mentioned previously, that bringing the same bridge that was tested to the competition is a bad idea. Would it be a bad idea no matter what? Is it fine to test it to a load of 5kg - 7.5kg and see what happens, or should I just resist from using that same bridge and just build a new one?

Thanks.

From my experience, as long as the bridge hasn't suffered any damage (such as cracking or a significant amount of bending) during the testing process, it will be fine to test it again. I have tested a bridge multiple times to the max load without any problems; however, if you have a design that maxes out at 12kg and you test the bridge to 10 or 11kg without it breaking, it probably will have suffered some damage and will likely break prematurely the next time it is tested. I personally think it is a good idea to test a bridge before a competition. I would suggest testing to about 60% its maximum load. Anything more than that and the bridge will probably not perform as expected. I hope this helps. Good luck!

[lukas]

Hey guys,

Is anyone here from Delaware/knows the score that Charter School of Wilmington got at states to take 1st in bridge building? Given that this school got 1st in boomilever last year at nationals, it's a decent way to gauge what the score is going to be around later on in the competition season.