The Lincoln Bridge

THE LINCOLN BRIDGE

Read all about it!

Engineer: August Dutton

Type of Bridge: Cable Stayed

The Lincoln Bridge is a cable stayed bridge that connects the towns of Palm Tree City and Riverside Village. The bridge crosses over the Lincoln River. Lincoln river and bridge are named after the engineer’s beloved cat, Lincoln.

Palm Tree city and Riverside village wanted to be connected. The people of Palm Tree city wanted the space and sunshine and farmland of Riverside Village and the people of Riverside village wanted the opportunities of a big city. They needed a bridge that could withstand the wind and currents of the Lincoln River. They needed a bridge that could support cars and would be tall enough for boats to pass under it. They also needed a bridge that could cross over the wide river. The engineer, August Dutton, decided to build a cable stay for all these reasons...and because he really liked the design.

The Lincoln Bridge has 4 towers, a deck, 2 piers/pylons, 4 saddles on each tower, 4 cables on each side of the tower and 2 supports to hold the deck up as it slopes down toward land.

August Dutton used all found recycled materials including 2 egg crates, rocks for weight, packing tape, paper towel rolls, cardboard, twine, popsicle sticks, penne pasta, toilet paper rolls, and paint. The bridge is environmentally friendly and was less expensive to build!

I used rocks and beans as weights to fill up the egg crates which were like piers/pylons or caissons for the towers.

The towers were attached with packing tape to secure it. I made notches or holes into the towers for the cables to suspend even on each side. The towers were covered and a penne pasta saddle was secured to each with gorilla glue. The last and longest suspension cable was fed through the saddle. Each cable had to be attached to the deck. I measured the distance from the tower on each side to make the tension even (3 inches apart). My assistant (Mama) helped me feed the cables through and secure them to the deck. Finally our deck was lifted and strong!

But how to support the deck near the land? The roadway was too long. I had to add shorter toilet paper rolls under the deck. We secured the pillars with more gorilla glue. These acted as deck supports. We tested the first car and it was a success. The people of Palm Tree City and Riverside Village were now connected!

Length: 100 inches

Height: 13 inches

Span of towers: 22 inches