Architectural structures in your community are excellent subjects for children to draw. I live near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State. In 2007, a new bridge was built alongside it. We watched the new bridge go up and learned about bridge engineering and construction, which of course, led to a drawing lesson. This lesson is NOT in a Draw Write Now book—the children and I were simply drawing our world!

Basic Bridge Construction

The basic parts of a suspension bridge: towers, main cables, anchorage, suspender cables, road deck.
Artistic styles influence engineers as they design a bridge.

Bridge History

1st bridge (1940) video, named Galloping Gertie (don't miss this video—beautifully presented by a high school student) Another video.
2nd bridge (1950), named Study Gertie, photo courtesy of bridgemeister.com
3rd bridge (2007) video, built alongside Sturdy Gertie

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections FAR165, used with permission

Drawing Lesson: Suspension Bridge

Materials

Tower Template (Free Download, pdf, 11 KB)
Tracing Paper
White Paper
Pencil and Crayons

Prepare the Paper

Paper clip or tape the tracing paper onto the tower template. (The template is removed in Step 6 and the white paper is taped to the back of the tracing paper. The drawing will be completed on the tracing paper.)

drawyourworld.com, bridge template for drawing lesson

Download the Template

drawyourworld.com, Draw a Suspension Bridge, Tacoma Narrows

A Suspension Bridge Near You

Bridgemeister.com —See suspension bridges from your neighborhood and from around the world!

The Bridge Lesson can easily be adapted to any suspension bridge. Simply substitute the tower design. (David Denenberg graciously granted permission to link to Bridgemeister.)

Suspension Bridges of the World

Suspension Bridges of the United States of America