Top student bridge builders to compete at Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Civil engineering students from around the United States will meet at Purdue University on Memorial Day weekend for the 2010 National Student Steel Bridge Competition.
"These students represent the next generation of bridge engineers," said Robert J. Connor, a Purdue associate professor of civil engineering and faculty director of this year's contest. "They will be pushing the limits and really bringing together everything they've learned to build a bridge with a specific set of criteria."
The 46 competing teams will display their bridges May 28 on the Purdue Mall.
"We're basically going to take over the whole mall," said Emily Foote, a Purdue civil engineering senior from Akron, Ohio, who is the event's student director. "It's going to be interesting to see all of the different design concepts."
About 700 people are expected to attend.
The students must comply with a battery of requirements, including criteria that specify how quickly to erect the bridges as well as guidelines regarding the weight, strength, aesthetics and restrictions related to environmental considerations.
"They might pretend there's a river and they can't disturb native fish habitat, for example," Connor said.
Aesthetic judging will take place May 28 on the mall, but the majority of the competition will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 29 in the Purdue Armory.
The spans, which are roughly 20 feet long by 3 feet wide, will be tested with punishing stresses until they fail.
"These are real bridges, some of them capable of carrying thousands of pounds," said Connor, who uses a bridge from a previous competition to span a ravine in his back yard.
Because one of the goals is to quickly assemble their bridges, participants try to avoid using bolts and rely more on innovative fasteners for speedier construction.
Purdue's team will be in charge of calibrating critical devices called string pots, which are used by all the teams to test the bridges by measuring how much the structures deflect while weights are applied.
The Purdue team has been working on its bridge at the university's Robert and Terry L. Bowen Laboratory for Large-Scale Civil Engineering Research, said Joe Mueller, a senior from Columbia City, Ind., who is captain of the Purdue team.
Purdue has never participated in the national competition, which is in its 19th year, though regularly participates in the regional competition. The Purdue students are involved entirely on a volunteer basis, although some institutions dedicate courses for the competition.
"The students are learning organizational skills related to planning and coordinating a national event for 700 people and a budget of about $80,000," Connor said. "I think it's pretty amazing that the students organize everything associated with this event."
Participating teams must first win prizes in one of 18 regional contests to advance to the national event, but Purdue's team is guaranteed a spot because the university is hosting the competition.
First-, second- and third-place winners will be selected overall and also in six categories: construction speed, lightness, display, stiffness, economy and efficiency. The awards will be presented during a banquet on May 29.
The American Institute of Steel Construction provides plaques for the top three overall national winners and the top three finishers in each of the six categories.
"Being the director of this exciting event has enhanced my college experience in many ways," Foote said. "I have been able to work closely with many of the professors of the School of Civil Engineering, as well as other important figures in the industry."
Major event sponsors include the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers. More information is available at https://engineering.purdue.edu/NSSBC2010/
Writer: Emil Venere, 765-494-4709, venere@purdue.edu
Sources: Robert Connor, 765-496-8272, rconnor@purdue.edu
Emily Foote - eafoote@purdue.edu
Joe Mueller - jmmuelle@purdue.edu
Nick Ulliman, competition assistant director, 765-418-9976, nulliman@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: A list of competing schools is available from Emil Venere, Purdue News Service, at 765-494-4709, venere@purdue.edu, or from Emily Foote, eafoote@purdue.edu