TheBigDog Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I found this a couple of years ago and I occasionally rediscover it and have some fun. It is an annual event sponsored by West Point for building a virtual bridge at the lowest cost. It is designed to promote interest in engineering. I though it might make a neat contest here to see who could build the lowest cost bridge. It is a free download. You don't have to enter the official contest to use the software. http://bridgecontest.usma.edu/ Or maybe have a Hypography entry? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrmdave Posted January 26, 2006 Report Share Posted January 26, 2006 I've been playing around with it for a few days, it's rather fun :(I've been able to get the cost down to $198,714.13 so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigDog Posted January 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2006 I've been playing around with it for a few days, it's rather fun :(I've been able to get the cost down to $198,714.13 so far.It is fun. I tend to get lost in it once I get started. My lowest cost right now is $174,915.11. I excavated to 4 meters, and used a pier. I then built two symentrical spans using only two bar types to keep the setup costs low from the manufacturer. I have never been able to keep the costs as low with bigger bridges. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted January 26, 2006 Report Share Posted January 26, 2006 cool - I used to play a game like this, competition would be interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigDog Posted January 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 $172,130.65 Same bridge as above, but spent some time fine tuning the construction. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 trying to get it to run in wine :hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 err guys, we got ways to go, need to get it to around 130 g area to be considered good, under 133 and we are simply da best... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigDog Posted February 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 err guys, we got ways to go, need to get it to around 130 g area to be considered good, under 133 and we are simply da best...If you are looking at results from previous years, they have adjusted the cost model year over year. The software is essentially unchanged, but by changing the manufacturing and material costs and properties they can insure that the same designs won't work in every competition. In the 2005 the best preliminary round design was $150,980. In 2004 it was $137,066. In 2003 it was $120,100. In the finals they adjust it again so all the teams need to adjust their thinking to the new parameters that they see for the first time at the competion. I am happy with the $172,130. Send me a message and I will mail the file so you can see how I did it. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek77 Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I've got a bridge optimized at:eek_big: $172,132.76 :hihi: and need someone's help to get any farther. Anyone Interested?:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigDog Posted February 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 I've got a bridge optimized at:eek_big: $172,132.76 :hihi: and need someone's help to get any farther. Anyone Interested?:lol:Help!?! And give up my $2.00 advantage? Biggest thing I learned is to look at the grid that displays the forces acting on all of the members. Getting members that are under compression as short as possible is key. And when making an 'arch' out of members, try to get them to the same length so you can make them all the same weight, thus reducing your setup costs. Does anyone want to wager rep points on who can get the lowest cost bridge by, say, Sunday, at midnight? Winner gets rep from all participants? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 the only problem i got is for some reason or another i get constant crashes while trying to run the simulation i get division by 0 error and the program crashes to hell, but there is no problem with 2005 version... hey it would be nice if you attatched the bridge file so we can look at it, but yeah it will be interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigDog Posted February 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 the only problem i got is for some reason or another i get constant crashes while trying to run the simulation i get division by 0 error and the program crashes to hell, but there is no problem with 2005 version... hey it would be nice if you attatched the bridge file so we can look at it, but yeah it will be interesting...So the "crash" you are referring to when beginning the simulation is not girders collapsing into the river? I think I created an attachment called "Bridge2.zip". First time I am doing this so anything is possible. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 no crash as in program failiure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 $171216 bling bling :Waldo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 ok got it down to $169,103 :Waldo: pbttt tubes are generally cheaper for compression :Waldo: here is the file :Waldo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 oh and in case you were wondering, it was runtime error 11, division by 0, and i got it to work a lot more stably, if anyone wants to attempt to run it in wine, let me know, i'll tell ya what i did... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigDog Posted February 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 oh and in case you were wondering, it was runtime error 11, division by 0, and i got it to work a lot more stably, if anyone wants to attempt to run it in wine, let me know, i'll tell ya what i did...I will take it at face value that the extra work to get this to run outside of windows is well worth the effort.:Waldo: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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