Monthly Archives: November 2016

When presenting on the Friday, I spoke about structural materials. This involved those both real and for the model. The 3 most essential elements to consider were the deck, piers and our roofing structure. All of which, involved some in depth research and below I am going to outline our choices, beginning with the deck.

DECK
• Real: Our material choice here was concrete for its longevity and low maintenance, attributing to its economical benefits. Further to this, the option for it to be precast is ideal for quick construction of the bridge, an essential factor in this instance, due to the busy nature of Lewes Road.
•Model: Foam modelling board illustrated the deck for us. It was the best option because of its ease to cut and shape. Moreover, its rigidity provided a solid base to work the rest of our model around.

PIERS
•Real: Galvanised steel would provide our structure with the appropriate support. As a material it has many measurable benefits including longevity and resistance to corrosion/ moisture. The erection of galvanised steel components is also very efficient.
Model: Wooden dowel was used to demonstrate the placement of supports in our model. The reason we chose to work with wood, was because we needed different lengths and knew that wooden dowel would be quick to cut, shape and could be glued easily with a glue gun. It would also be able to take the load of the foam modelling board and other model materials with ease.

ROOFING
•Real: This was probably the toughest decision to make and consequently more time was spent researching materials and similar existing structures. Our end decision was primarily informed by looking back at two of our earlier precedent studies; The Webb in Melbourne and the Peace Bridge in Calgary. By considering them and using our own knowledge and ideas we decided upon toughened glass, supported by a steel framework with a protective sheeting/ layer over the glass areas; for vandalism and health and safety purposes. Toughened glass would allow us to achieve the modern and open space we had envisioned, whilst also being a feasible choice due to its properties including being a thermal resistant glass.
•Model: Plastic sheeting was the obvious choice to make this design work in model form. It’s flexibility made it perfect to create the curvature and it could be held to the deck easily with the use of a glue gun. More wooden dowel was used to represent the steel framework. Unfortunately due to time management, our model did not reflect our design and its potential. However, our ideas were all well informed and illustrated in the form of drawings.

The final day.

It has arrived, the day of the presentation for the poster and model.

It was very stressful as I saw that there were some problems with the modelling. The poster was fine and done but the model needs some work.

I went down to help the other group make the model. What we needed was the columns and the Base to be completed. I was rushing around to get things done by 11:00 which was the presentation time.

We finished the model but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to complete the Base of the model. It was very stressful to keep some people motivated but at least we were mostly finished with the model.

The time for the presentation was closing in and we need to organise ourselves to fit the time frame we have to present our project.

As the group leader I went ahead and started the presentation introducing myself but because of stage fright I seem to have forgot to mention the others. For the same reason I seem to babble longer than I should have. I explained the basis of our idea and how we came to it as well as the thoughts we have on the design. After the presentation we were told about our mistakes or trip ups.

One was the use of the roundabout idea, though I mentioned briefly I didn’t want to over extend my time so I can let others speak on their part.

The second was the modelling, I did explain the lack of Time but I should’ve planned it more strictly as the team leader.

And lastly was the reflection on the project. Though the project was enjoyable I probably should’ve discussed with the other members about the reflection of the project so that the other groups can have a neutral plane to express what they think about this project.

I enjoyed the project, though I probably won’t have chosen myself as the leader. I seem to have done a fair part, sending assignments to my members for the next day, doing some offline work and research and monitoring the progress of my team and responding accordingly while keeping in mind the information that I gathered and their situations.

On the fourth day it was starting to get very busy.

The early morning we started on focusing on the model making. One of our members wasn’t able to make it to the session so we were down on man power to create the model.

What I did for the day was do some parts of the modelling such as crafting the parts of the bridge so we can easily assemble it the next day. I was also helping on making the poster so I’m basically split into doing two things at once.

I mostly contributed by doing the hand sketches and illustrations for the poster. The poster was left to the trusted hands on one of my group members and they did mostly the writing and presentation. 

After the day I went home to do some extra work on the model so it’s ready for tomorrow for assembly. The model floor is made out of foam board, the supports is made out of wooden dowels stuck together by hot glue from the glue gun, the metal railings is made out of staples pinned to the foam and the walls is made out of thin plastic.

I assembled most of the parts in the evening and all that was needed left was the supports and the Base of the model to be ready.

Not much difficulty happened but alot of work needs to be done so I need to handle some stuff that are needed at home for the next day.