STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
CONCEPTS
Square vs. Triangle
Triangles are stronger than squares when building.
If you look back to the practice build on the previous
page, you’ll see extra-long poles connected
diagonally on three of the sides. These extra-long
poles transform each of these sides from one square
to two triangles, making the whole structure much
stronger. The same goes for the triangle shapes
that create a pyramid at the top. Try to incorporate
triangle shapes into your fort building whenever
you can so it’s as sturdy as possible!
Polyhedrons
Shapes like cubes or
pyramids are called
polyhedrons.
LOAD
TENSION
COMPRESSION
COMPRESSION
Triangles in Action!
The Francis Scott Key
Bridge in Baltimore,
Maryland is a truss
bridge, which is
made up of many triangular units that help
to distribute heavy loads.
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza
in Egypt was built over
4000 years ago during the
reign of King Khufu. It took
around 20 years to complete and was the tallest
human-created structure for more than 3,800 years!
FUN
FA
CTS!
FUN
FA
CTS!
