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The
suspension bridge we showed you worked like a swing. A
cantilever bridge, on the other hand, works like two teeter-totters: One to the left and one to the
right. It takes the weight placed on top of it (which is Mr. Bunny),
and evens that out with weights placed on each end (which are the
kitties). Next,
I’ll show you a model.
This is
a model of a cantilever bridge. Mr. Bear is the weight in the
middle. The brightly colored red, blue and yellow tinker toys are
the weights on the end. The green poles and the strings are the
“teeter-totters”. But these “teeter-totters” have tension and
compression components. The tension components are the strings
because they are holding the bear up from the top. The compression
components are the green poles, because they are holding the bear up
from the bottom.
The
interesting thing about a cantilever bridge is that if there is no
weight on the end, the bridge will fall.
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