Project MO-Bridge: Connecting Students to Their Future

Watch this space for more information on this project as it becomes available.

The Missouri Research & Education Network (MOREnet) in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) announces Project MO Bridge: Connecting Students to Their Future.

A series of ten interactive, virtual field trips is planned over the next year, each focusing on a primary area of the project as defined by the project team from MoDOT. Events will have specific components geared toward elementary, middle and high school students. Supporting curriculum for these events, mapped to state standards, will be available from RoundTrips (the recognized experts in virtual field trip curriculum) and provided to participating educators.

Check out MOREnet's MO-Bridge Project blog, archived streams and upcoming programs.

Test stream: Round Trips and MOREnet Provided Distance Learning*

Upcoming Events

Project MO Bridge: Bridge Construction 1: Superstructure

Join us on April 3 for the sixth of ten online, interactive events, presented by MOREnet, MODOT and RoundTrips.

Date: April 3, 2009
Times: 9-9:50 a.m. and 10-10:50 a.m.
Grade Levels: 5-12

The bridge has been designed, public hearings have been held and funding has been arranged. Now the construction begins in earnest. Join us live from the construction site of the new bridge going over the Missouri River at Glasgow, Mo. Interact with construction personnel as they share how they are bringing the design plans to life. How is the superstructure for the bridge connected to the bridge piers? What kinds of materials are used? What items are pre-fabricated and what is created on site? What are the careers involved in building a bridge? For the answers to these and other questions, join us for our sixth program in our continuing series of programs produced with the Missouri Department of Transportation as they build a new bridge over the Missouri River at Glasgow, Mo.

For details about the program, including program objectives, its format and agenda, pre-program activities, post-program activities, related curriculum standards, related vocabulary and much more go to http://www.roundtrips.org.

To view the live stream, test your connection or find information on joining the videoconference, go to MOREnet's Project MO Bridge blog.

For questions regarding this announcement, contact MOREnet Video Services at video@more.net or (573) 884-6986.

Project MO Bridge: Bridge Failures: A Look at Stress

Join us on March 13 for the fifth of 10 online, interactive events, presented by MOREnet, MODOT and RoundTrips.

Date: March 13, 2009
Times: 9-9:50 a.m. and 10-10:50 a.m.
Grade Levels: 7-12

On Nov. 7, 1940, in what may be the most dramatic footage of a bridge failure ever caught on film, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington collapsed while being pounded by wind. Luckily no one was injured. On April 5, 1987, after days of record rainfall and floods, the Schoharie Creek Bridge in New York collapsed killing ten people. On Aug. 1, 2007, during the height of rush hour traffic, the I-35W Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, plunging dozens of cars and their occupants into the Mississippi River.

Why do seemingly well-designed bridges suddenly collapse? How do forces, both natural and man-made create stress and cause bridge failure? What’s the science involved in these events?

In this program, your students will interact with engineers and investigate these and other real-life bridge failures. Learn about stress points, important elements in design and maintenance and how natural forces like wind, rain and river flow affect the life of a bridge. Find out what engineers do to counteract those forces and create the best bridge design possible. Join us for our fifth program in our continuing series produced with the Missouri Department of Transportation as they build a new bridge over the Missouri River at Glasgow, Mo.

For details about the program, including program objectives, its format and agenda, pre-program activities, post-program activities, related curriculum standards, related vocabulary and much more go to http://www.roundtrips.org.

To view the live stream, test your connection or find information on joining the videoconference, go to MOREnet's Project MO Bridge blog.

For questions regarding this announcement, contact MOREnet Video Services at video@more.net or (573) 884-6986.

Feb. 13: Engaging the Public

Join us on Feb. 13 for the third of ten online, interactive events, presented by MOREnet, MODOT and RoundTrips.

Date: Feb. 13, 2009
Times: 9 to 10 a.m. and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Grade Levels: 7-12

Replacing an old bridge with a new one involves far more than just destroying one bridge and building another. Significant attention must be paid to the impact the construction process will have on the life of the people, businesses and communities near the bridge site on both sides of the river. How will people get to work? How will the environment around the bridge site be affected? What should businesses in the area expect? What happens if there's an emergency and residents have to get across the river? To determine the answers to these and other questions, members of the Missouri Department of Transportation studied a great deal of information when preparing to build a new bridge across the river at Glasgow, Mo. But study alone was not enough. Missouri transportation officials then needed to engage the public to increase understanding of the project and answer people’s questions and concerns about how their lives would be affected by it. This research and public interaction then resulted in additional decisions made before the construction process began.

For this program, the third of our ten part series developed with the Missouri Department of Transportation as it builds a new bridge across the Missouri River at Glasgow, Mo., your students will learn about the process of engaging the public on a project of this magnitude. Students will see how the science and engineering of bridge construction combine with civic responsibility as they interact with transportation officials at a public engagement meeting. Students will be asked to take on the perspective of a member of the public to develop their questions in advance of the program and ask those questions during the videoconference. Students can choose to be a general community member, businessman, farmer, environmental activist or historic preservationist. Whichever role they choose to take, what would they want to ask? What concerns would they have about how the construction process would affect them? What would they need to know to make sure they'd be ready to deal with the construction process? For example, if they lived on one side of the river and worked on the other, how would they get to work? If they were a farmer, how would they get their crops to the grain elevator? If they are worried about environmental impacts, are there fish or bird species that might be affected by the construction? As engineers and other transportation officials answer their questions, students will also see how people in these careers engage with the public and deal with public concerns. Data used by transportation officials as they developed plans for the Glasgow bridge will be provided to your students in advance of the program to help them develop their questions.

To view the live stream, test your connection or find information on joining the videoconference, go to MOREnet's Project MO Bridge blog.

For questions regarding this announcement, contact MOREnet Video Services at video@more.net or (573) 884-6986.

Jan. 30: Why This Bridge Here

Join us on Jan. 30 for the second of ten online, interactive events, presented by MOREnet, MODOT and RoundTrips.

Date: Jan. 30, 2009
Times: 10 to 10:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. to Noon
Grade Levels: 4-8

Have you ever noticed there are all sorts of different shapes to bridges that span rivers, gorges and highways? Have you ever wondered “why did they build that kind of bridge here?” This program is designed to help you and your students answer those questions. We’ll explore basic bridge shapes such as arch, beam, suspension and cable-stayed. We’ll look at the forces of tension, compression, torsion, bending and shear that act on those bridge shapes. We’ll investigate how the purpose of the bridge, its geographic location and the materials used in its construction also help determine its final design.

This is the second of our ten part series developed with the Missouri Department of Transportation as it builds a new bridge across the Missouri River at Glasgow, Mo. Students will see examples of different types of bridges and engage in discussion and activities with engineers who design and build bridges. We’ll look at examples of bridges from around the world and the specifics of the new bridge being built at Glasgow.

To view the live stream, test your connection or find information on joining the videoconference, go to MOREnet's Project MO Bridge blog.

For questions regarding this announcement, contact MOREnet Video Services at video@more.net or (573) 884-6986.

Dec. 8: Bringing Down the Glasgow Bridge

MOREnet, MODOT and RoundTrips Present:
Bringing Down the Glasgow Bridge

Date: Dec 8, 2008
Times: 10 to 10:45 a.m. and 11 to 11:45 a.m.
Grade Levels: 4-12
Cost: No Fee

Join us live on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008, from Rolla and Macon Mo. Be part of the action as explosives expert Dr. Paul Worsey (Professor of Mining Engineering, Missouri S&T) and engineers Dennis Brucks and Brian Haeffner from Missouri Department of Transportation walk us through the process of bringing down the Glasgow Bridge.

This program is the first of an ongoing series of programs that will occur throughout the 2008-2009 school year. During this series of programs, entitled Project MO Bridge: Connecting Students to Their Future, your students will be able to learn what it takes to build a new bridge—from dream to design to construction to operation. Students will interact with experts in a wide variety of fields and learn how specific aspects of their science, social studies and mathematics curriculum come to life in the construction of a new bridge.

But before that new bridge can be built, the old bridge needed to be removed to make way for construction of a new span connecting Route 240 across the Missouri River.

Have your students interact with engineers Dennis Brucks and Brian Haeffner, who will give us technical aspects of the destruction and rebuilding of the bridge. Ask questions about what it takes to safely destroy one bridge so you can begin to build another. See video excerpts of the bridge coming down and explosives demonstrations by Dr. Paul Worsey.

More details on the entire series of interactive programs are available at MOREnet's website. To get your students’ experience started off with a bang, enroll for this program by following the steps below:

Each program will be offered live via videoconferences and Internet web streaming.

1. To enroll as a videoconference school for face-to face interaction with the program’s experts, contact roundtrips@clayton.k12.mo.us or call (314) 773-6934.
2. To watch the program live via the web or to watch archived programs via the web, go to www.more.net/mobridge.
3. Those joining via web stream and videoconference can e-mail their questions during the program to roundtrips@clayton.k12.mo.us.

To help prepare your students for the program, you’ll find more about the Glasgow Bridge Project at http://www.modot.mo.gov/northcentral/glasgowbridgeproject.htm.

News Releases

Nov. 13, 2008