Lab-4 Measurement Location

I’ve received several questions relating to where the measurements were taken.  Here’s a representative one:

Question:

“In the lab description we are given an example of how to calculate the cross-sectional area of the top chord. Are we supposed to know which member the measurements were taken at? The excel spreadsheet has "(ue)" next to every sensor's name. Does that have something to do with the location? “

Answer:

You were asked during the field trip to be careful to locate where on the bridge the measurements were taken, and warned that it wasn’t as simple as it might seem.  Here are several hints to help:

• For your purposes you can ignore the “ue” – you know that the sensors were all on the upper “flange” member of the truss.
• It’s OK to ask your classmates where the measurements were taken – give them credit in your lab report if you didn’t determine the location yourself.
• Refer to the drawings that are on the VBB site for assistance.  Once you’ve located the measurement location you’ll also be able to determine the components of the truss member at that location as Dr. Moon explained.
• The three truss spans are mirror images of each other.  Only one set is drawn on the plans for that reason.