In the puzzle Four people on a Bridge we met four people who needed to cross a bridge at night. In this puzzle, there are five people who must cross two sequential bridges at night. As in the original puzzle, there are some hindrances:

The bridges can only support two people crossing at a time.

Each person has a different speed in which they can cross: 10 minutes, 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute.

They have only two flashlights to share among them.

What is the shortest amount of time it will take for all five people to cross both bridges?

(In reply to Question by Amber)

Yes, you can have as many people waiting in the middle between the two bridges as you like.

Yes, there can be two people on the first bridge at the same time there are two people on the second bridge.

Posted by Erik O. on 2005-08-08 19:33:43