Bridge charts - quick or easy way to create?

I'm looking to do a so-called "Bridge" chart (aka "Waterfall" chart I think)
that "bridges" the gap between two numbers, by drawing a series of small
proportionate blocks.

Something like this -

XX AA
XX BB
XX BB
XX CC
XX YY
XX YY
XX YY


These charts are used to help explain eg why Sales in 2002 (XX) have fallen
to 2003 (YY), due to reasons AA, BB and CC.

It means that AA, BB and CC are bar columns that "hang" in the air, and
their sizes are proportionate to their values ie BB is a bigger block than
AA.

Apart from playing around artistically in Powerpoint with Autoshapes, how do
I draw such a Bridge Chart using Excel?

Is there a simple way to make these charts?

( I think the difference between a Waterfall chart and a Bridge chart is
that the Waterfall chart drops down in a series of steps, all in the same
direction downwards. The Bridge chart needs to have the ability to step up
and down ie there can be positive and negative values for AA, BB and CC in a
Bridge chart)

Hi Lindsay,

Try these two online examples,
(http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/...Waterfall.html)
(http://www.tushar-mehta.com/)

Lindsay McCallum wrote:

I'm looking to do a so-called "Bridge" chart (aka "Waterfall" chart I think)
that "bridges" the gap between two numbers, by drawing a series of small
proportionate blocks.

Something like this -

XX AA
XX BB
XX BB
XX CC
XX YY
XX YY
XX YY


These charts are used to help explain eg why Sales in 2002 (XX) have fallen
to 2003 (YY), due to reasons AA, BB and CC.

It means that AA, BB and CC are bar columns that "hang" in the air, and
their sizes are proportionate to their values ie BB is a bigger block than
AA.

Apart from playing around artistically in Powerpoint with Autoshapes, how do
I draw such a Bridge Chart using Excel?

Is there a simple way to make these charts?

( I think the difference between a Waterfall chart and a Bridge chart is
that the Waterfall chart drops down in a series of steps, all in the same
direction downwards. The Bridge chart needs to have the ability to step up
and down ie there can be positive and negative values for AA, BB and CC in a
Bridge chart)



--

Cheers
Andy

http://www.andypope.info