Posted October 4, 2018, by Art S. (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)
The PBS NOVA special 'Operation Bridge Rescue' was fun to see but, unfortunately, much of it focused on the creation of this replica. The wood joinery was nice, but they seemed to spend more time explaining how the historic Chinese wooden arch bridges functioned than explaining the function of a truss or showing how different truss designs work.
Even sadder, they didn't spend time showing the restoration of original truss bridges, either wood or iron. Nor did they really explain the story of the evolution American truss bridge, just stating they were designed locally and organically to regional designs. I'm not sure if the educational content of NOVA has gone down or if this is on par for NOVA but I'm disappointed because I know something about the topic.
That said, its fantastic that the community found the resources to recreate this bridge and that the builders did a beautiful job.
The PBS NOVA special 'Operation Bridge Rescue' was fun to see but, unfortunately, much of it focused on the creation of this replica. The wood joinery was nice, but they seemed to spend more time explaining how the historic Chinese wooden arch bridges functioned than explaining the function of a truss or showing how different truss designs work.
Even sadder, they didn't spend time showing the restoration of original truss bridges, either wood or iron. Nor did they really explain the story of the evolution American truss bridge, just stating they were designed locally and organically to regional designs. I'm not sure if the educational content of NOVA has gone down or if this is on par for NOVA but I'm disappointed because I know something about the topic.
That said, its fantastic that the community found the resources to recreate this bridge and that the builders did a beautiful job.
Sincerely,
Art S.