My newest contestant is a “water strider”, also known as the “Jesus-bug”; fitting, since it’s a bug that floats on water. This insect relies on surface tension in order to walk on top of water. The legs on these insects are designed to keep afloat as well as guide themselves across rivers, ponds, and streams, using its middle legs to guide and its forelegs as rudders. Fun fact: Their legs are water resistant.

As for the design I’m still designing a bridge, but now, the bridge will be floating above water, much like the lily pad, but this design will focus mostly on the mechanics of how it will work. As of now, I’m trying to design hinges, that will allow for movement, depending on the water levels, tension from the link between each platform, pontoons to help keep it float above water, but most importantly the hinges (legs), which will be the core of all its mechanics as they will be adjustable and acts as the links.

Pick and Choose

As I sit in studio questioning which design options I’m going to decide on, I thought maybe I should share my thoughts with you in order to narrow it down. I’m pretty settled on designing a bridge, as it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, but I don’t know in which application I should design it (highway, pedestrian, heavy locomotive, etc.).

My initial design was inspired by rock formation, which would mimic the patterns to create a system of bridges. I would most probably design this for a highway system, but am not sure on how far I would be able to take it. Though my sketches seem to broadcast an elegant design.

The second option was to design an ice bridge for ice-truckers in Fort McMurray Alberta or any of the Territories that work with large machinery for work, such as oil sands, mining, etc. The bridge is to be built either of triangulation patterns formed by natural ice crystals/ icebergs, or as a honeycomb structure, since the honeycomb is able to span long distances. The only thing that worries me is that it’s too generic.

The third option was to design a pedestrian bridge close to water, possibly near the East Coast, as a “reflection” walkway. This bridge would be designed to work with both high tide and low tide. I took the inspiration from the lily pad, for obvious reasons as it floats above water. The lily pad is made up of hundreds of veins on the underside, in varying thicknesses, which hold within it air pockets. If any of you remember grade 10 physics, you would know that the reason why something floats is because the pressure of the air within a form/ unit displaces the same or less amount of water underneath it, thus keeping it in equilibrium (floating). However, the only problem I have with creating a bridge that levitates on water (with structure underneath of course) is the problems of rust. I’m not sure if something like this is feasible.