Physics project

2. Acknowledgement
I would like to express my gratitude to my teacher,
xxxx as well as our principal who gave me this
opportunity to do this project. It also helped me in
doing a lot of studies and I leant about a lot of new
things.
I would also like to thank my parents for helping me
in doing this project.

3. Introduction
The hydraulic bridge also known as “moving bridge”. It was invented by
Leonardo within the 15th century. He also made designs and built models
of swing and retractable bridges. Hydraulic bridges are used to provide
both waterway for vessels and ships to pass through the bridge and
provide traffic way for cars, trains, and other forms of transportation.
There are 3 types of Hydraulic bridges:
 Bascule Bridge
 Vertical Lifting Bridge
 Swing Bridge

4. Aim
The hydraulic bridge is a bridge that is used to allow seaside traffic
through a body of water. In short, it can be moved to allow the passage for
boats or ships.
Materials required
 1. Cardboards
 2. Coloured paper(yellow, sky blue and green)
 3. Syringes (4)
 4. Transparent tube
 5. Hot glue gun, Fevicol
 6. Wooden sticks(2 ) , straw (2)

5. Construction
1. The base is made of a big cardboard which is covered with a blue
paper.
2. 4 pillars of the bridge each of dimensions(2.5 x 13)cm were made of
cardboard.
3. The 2 leaves of the bascule bridge were made of a thin cardboard,
each of dimensions(10 x 15)cm
4. 4 supporting panels were used to rest the leaves of the bridge.
5. Wooden sticks were used to connect the 2 pillars of the bridge on
each side.
6. The wooden stick is passed through the straw for free movement of
the leaf.
7. 2 sets of hydraulic apparatus were created using syringes(2 on each
side), connected via a transparent tube filled with water.

6. Working
 Hydraulic bridges work on the principle of Pascal's Law.
 The bridge has 2 operational ends which 2 syringes filled with water.
The right and left syringes operate the respective halves of the bridge.
The bridge is operated is (opened and closed) with push and pull
action on the 2 end of the syringe.
 As we push the end of the syringes, the leaves of the bridge are lifted.
This is due to the hydraulic mechanism. As we push one end of the
syringe filled with water, it transmits the water to the other syringe on
which the bridge is resting.
 Due to water pressure, this syringe gets pushed which results in
opening the halves of the bridge.

7. Bascule Bridge
 The Bascule bridge is a subcategory of drawbridge. These bridge can be
a single leaf or double leaf. It is fixed and supported on an axis that is
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bridge and the horizontal
axis is located at the centre of gravity. Single leaf bascule bridges are
similar to draw bridges. Whereas, the double leaf bascule bridges will
split in the middle. These bridges are structurally sound, reliable, and
economical.

8. Application
Hydraulic bridges are made to allow the passage for boats or ships.
Hydraulic principle is extensively used in Hydraulic pumps in Automobile
Industry.
Some examples of Hydraulic Bridges are:
 Tower Bridge – London, England.
 Gateshead Millennium Bridge - Newcastle, England
Limitations
 1. Hydraulic fluids are the main requirement of any hydraulic system.
 2. Leakage of these fluids will create environmental problems and
safety issues.
 3. Contaminants present in the hydraulic fluid will damage the system
performance and productivity.