Arched bridge thoughts

[Bruce N H]

Hey all,

Based on the great Belville-scale bridge by Stapelaar that I discuss in this post, I figured I'd give it a try. Here are the results.
I made the basic bridge surface two plates thick with all 2x6 plates, all at 1-stud overlaps.

First let's see how a 28-stud long bridge surface fits in a 27-stud long space.

By simply jamming this in between the two stoppers, we get the arched shape.

The top of the bridge is just about 3 bricks above the horizontal surface.

Now let's see a 30-stud bridge surface in a 28-stud space.

This leads to a steeper arch.

This arch is over four bricks above the surface.

(All pics are clickable to see the larger pictures.)

Anyway, if i tried to go steeper the tension got too much and it fell apart. I think it'll look pretty good once I add a top layer of cobblestones and put it into a full bridge.

Bruce

[SavaTheAggie]

Well dangit, Bruce. Now you've gotten me wanting to play with this technique. See what you've done?

How sturdy is it? Could you move the MOC around and the bridge stay in place? (assuming you had a rigid baseplate)

I guess I'll be having a arched stone bridge in my next big MOC...

--Anthony

[Bruce N H]

It's actually pretty sturdy, assuming the stoppers at the end are held down well. They kept flying off for me, but if this were part of a larger MOC with walls and stuff around rather than just a few 2x6 plates stuck on a baseplate, it shouldn't do that at all. If you press down right in the middle of the arch it takes quite a bit of pressure to break apart the curved surface. if you press about a quarter of the way along the arch it breaks more easily. The steeper bridge breaks more easily, as expected. However, in the original inspiration they have quite a bit of support around the strained part (both below it and on the sides of the bridge), which probably makes it really strong.

Bruce

[Sir Terrance]

Interesting. If you were to use a lot of plates and make a complete circle, you could put it on its side and make a large round tower. Would that work?

~Chris Perron

[CAI]

Good stuff, this is somthing I will have to try. Your right Bruce, if this was dotted with 1x1round plates, i'm sure it would make a great cobblestone effect.

Some good ideas can stem from this for sure.

Cheers.

[Lord Nev]

Wow cool. I'm thinking maybe it'lll snap or bend or worse leave the white bend line in your bricks! Correct me If I'm wrong.

[lil Jon]

That is a great effect. It doesn't look too healthy for the pieces though.

Sir Terrance- That would be one huge tower and take a LOT of flat pieces, but the end result would probably be awesome.

[Modesty]

I wonder how small you could make it...like, could you fit a (tiny) one into an 8x8 Vignette? Or, maybe just make a 16x8 vignette...

[Bruce N H]

If you were to use a lot of plates and make a complete circle, you could put it on its side and make a large round tower. Would that work

Sure, you could make a big circle:

It would be really part-intensive though. That circle was made of 138 2x2 plates. I could probably have made a slightly smaller diameter, but this was pretty unstable as it was. A larger diameter would decrease strain and make for a more stable structure.

I wonder how small you could make it...like, could you fit a (tiny) one into an 8x8 Vignette? Or, maybe just make a 16x8 vignette...

You can't really get any noticable arch in an 8-long stretch. Even the 16-long doesn't lead to a very impressive arch.

Bruce

[Murgen]

For stability, perhaps you could turn it up-side down and attach it to larger pillars:

I\_/I

style- similar to a suspension bridge. That way, it is pushing agianst the combined 'weight' of the pillar.

I will try it out this weekend.

[MaxiVisVires]

I find it strange, that I am always willing to cut up a piece for a custom, but when I saw this technique, the first thing I did was say "Oh that's going to break the plates!"

Hahaha, well it's very interesting as it is. Judging by the look and the stress the pieces are getting, I assume that once you take a part the bridge the plates are never the same right? So I should bley instead of grey for this?

[Bruce N H]

The plates seem okay to me. Stress is evenly distributed across the arc, so no one plate is bearing too much strain. Of course, I only put this together to try out the concept. If it were sitting in this stretched fashion for a long time (like a MOC on long-term display), the plates might get warped over time.

Bruce

[CAI]

I haven't tried it yet, but that worried me.

Looking at the pictures, it doesn't seem to be much stress. Since they're so flat , that extra flexability is there...not like a brick. SO it may not cause damage at all. Only time could tell though.

Cheers.

[Norro]

I have to start being more leary of logging onto cc... Bruce has a way of overpowering me with inspiration. I have always been into lego bridges but haven't come up with anything worth showing... maybe soon now.

God Bless,

Nathan