High school students to build, then break bridges
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Ten high school teams from north central Indiana and one from Illinois will construct bridges only to see them destroyed during the 31st annual Bridge Bust contest March 1 at Purdue University.
The competition, administered by the Purdue chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, will take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Stewart Center, rooms 310, 311 and 313. The event is free and open to the public.
Competing high schools are Lafayette Jefferson, Benton Central, North Vermillion, Park Tudor (Indianapolis), Rochester, Kokomo Area Career Center, Milan, Plymouth, Andrean (Merrillville), Noblesville, and Westville, Ill.
Teams will assemble the bridges from 20 sticks of balsa wood and a bottle of glue. Most bridges are approximately 2 feet long and 8 inches high. The teams will be judged on loading efficiency, aesthetic qualities and structural concepts.
Loading efficiency will be determined by pouring sand into buckets that will be hang from the bridges. The bridge that can hold the most weight wins that category.
Purdue Mechanical Engineering professors Charles Krousgrill and Jeff Rhoads will give the keynote address at 10 a.m. on their roller coaster engineering design class.
Bridge breaking will be done from about 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Event chairman Kendra Schenk, a senior from Evansville majoring in civil engineering, said the event is an ideal way to get high school students interested in science and engineering.
"Our goal is to help the high school students learn more about engineering -- especially Purdue civil Engineering -- while exploring their creativity with the design," she said.
Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu
Source: Kendra Schenk, kschenk@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: The media are invited to take photos and video footage of the competition. Bridge breaking will take place from 10:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m.