BRIDGES

The Expedition Severn team have seen a lot of bridges on their journey but did you realise there are different types of bridges? Early bridges were usually made from stone and so the designs were simple – like Beam and Arch bridges. Modern bridges are generally made from metal struts and cables that are very strong. They are particularly hard to stretch so designs like Truss and Suspension bridges take advantage of this strength by putting the bridge under tension – like a stretched elastic band. Using these designs, a material only needs to be resistant to stretching – so in this experiment you’re going to be able to make a bridge from just paper