Civil Engineering Project Ideas

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Skyscrapers are impressive structures. What does it take to design a building so tall? Engineers use strong materials and innovative design to push the limits of gravity. In this experiment you will use LEGO components, rubber balls, and a 3-ring binder.

Bridges are big and beautiful structures, but they also need to be safe for the people who cross over them every day. Building a bridge that is safe and secure is a challenge to civil engineers. But the job is even more challenging if you live in earthquake country! Find out how engineers are solving this problem as they build a new bridge over the San Francisco Bay in California. Try some of your own Bay Bridge designs. Will your bridge design take the shake of a quake? The wind is a powerful force, enough to erode whole hillsides over time. Building structures in windy environments challenge civil engineers with special safety concerns. A wall in a windy area can either shield you from the cold or fall down on you. Learn a few tricks on how to design walls in windy places. Build model bridges and then deliberately destroy them? Who'd be crazy enough to try that? Sorry, you don't get to use a jackhammer for this project, but you'll find out another way to break concrete (not to mention what makes it strongest). Geodesic domes are made of interconnected triangles that approximate the shape of a sphere. This project shows you how to build a geodesic dome using rolled-up newspapers and tape. How much weight do you think your dome will support? Build one and find out!

Suspension bridges, with their tall towers, long spans, and gracefully curving cables, are beautiful examples of the work of civil engineers. How do the cables and towers carry the load of the bridge? Can a suspension bridge carry a greater load than a simple beam bridge? This simple project shows you how to find out.

Foundations for many types of structures rest on soil. This project shows how you can investigate the bearing capacity of different types of soil. This is an interesting project that explores which geometrical shapes make the strongest bridge truss structures. It is a good introduction to the engineering design process. You'll design three different trusses, and use online simulation software to analyze the distribution of load-bearing forces in each design. Then you'll build and test prototypes of each design.

Additional Project Ideas

Note: The following project ideas are abbreviated, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk.

Here's a fun project idea to learn about compression forces. For this experiment you'll need some empty toilet paper tubes, masking tape, sand (or table salt), pebbles (or marbles), a funnel, a cardboard box, and a sturdy chair to help you balance while testing the column. Seal one end of the tube with masking tape. Use the funnel to fill the... Predict how tall you can build a tower using only two sheets of newspaper as building material. You can't use tape, glue, staples, or anything else, just two sheets of newspaper. You can tear, bend, cut, or fold the newspaper. Try it out and see how close you can come to your prediction. Can you beat your prediction? As you're building,... Start with 7 drinking straws and 14 paper clips. Use the paper clips to fasten the straws together. Here's how: 1) Clip two paper clips together, narrow end to narrow end. 2) Push the wide ends of each clip into the end of a straw. That's it! Connect four straws to make a square, and three straws to make a triangle. Now test which shape is... Using just a single sheet of paper (8.5 × 11 inches) and up to five paper clips, can you build a bridge that will span 20 cm and support the weight of 100 pennies? The area beneath the span must be free (so that boats can pass beneath it). To test your bridge, place two books 20 cm apart, and set the bridge on the books, spanning the gap. Do not... How strongly do different types of nails hold in wood? Try different diameters of nails, and try pounding them to different depths. To gauge the holding strength, measure how difficult it is to remove the nail. Can you pull it out with a pair of pliers? Can you remove it with the hammer claw? Do you have to push only a little bit, moderately... Try gluing wood together with different types of glue, e.g.: regular white glue, yellow wood glue, cyanoacrylate (super glue), and Liquid Nails. Glue a short piece (5–8 cm) to the center of a longer piece (15–30 cm). After the glue has dried for the recommended time, drill a small hole through the center of the joint, big enough to pass... There are many types of construction materials used for wood-frame houses. Compare the different uses for and strengths of different building materials, e.g.: particle board, plywood, pine, oriented strand board (OSB), and drywall (gypsum board, SheetRock). The Science Buddies Materials Science Resource ...

Resources

Sources for Additional Project Ideas

Hess, J. R., 2006, personal communication.
WGBH Staff, 2000a. "Building Big Educator's Guide, Activity: Columns" Educational Print and Outreach Department, WGBH Educational Foundation [accessed May 26, 2006] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/educator/act_columns_ho.html.
WGBH Staff, 2000b. "Building Big Educator's Guide, Activity: Newspaper Tower" Educational Print and Outreach Department, WGBH Educational Foundation [accessed May 26, 2006] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/educator/act_tower_ho.html.
WGBH Staff, 2000c. "Building Big Educator's Guide, Activity: Straw Shapes" Educational Print and Outreach Department, WGBH Educational Foundation [accessed May 26, 2006] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/educator/act_straw_ei.html.
WGBH Staff, 2000d. "Building Big Educator's Guide, Activity: Paper Bridge" Educational Print and Outreach Department, WGBH Educational Foundation [accessed May 26, 2006] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/educator/act_paper_ei.html.