Building Bridges at Grand Coulee Dam

Written by: Lynne Brougher

Students Observe as Coy Webb and Andrew Deelstra check the strength of a portion of bridge.Since January, staff from Grand Coulee Dam have partnered with the Lake Roosevelt elementary school's Smart, Honest, Aware, Respectful and Present (SHARP) program to design, build and test toothpick bridges. This program culminated in a SHARP Kids Family Night toothpick bridge competition attended by over 70 faculty, staff, parents, students, and volunteers on April 29.

Nine bridges were entered, weighing from 40 to 93 grams and bearing up to 12.4 pounds. During the follow-up ice cream celebration, bridge failures were evaluated and analyzed as a brief statistics lesson. Award certificates were presented to three winning student teams.

Competition specifications and rules were modeled after the American Society of Civil Engineers' Duluth, Minnesota Chapter. These rules allow for employing up to 500 round wooden toothpicks and Elmer's brand wood glue; no special coatings/lamination, or paint allowed.

The constructed product must also be less than 90 grams, have a clear span of 55 centimeters and support a weight transferred through a square wood plate with foam underlayment placed on top of the structure.

Fun was had by all while fostering an active and cooperative learning environment.

"Seeing the kids conquer a tough project as a team and watching their glowing faces as they saw their bridge get loaded to capacity while we all shouted 'crunch it, crunch it' was fun and inspiring," said Coy Webb, Project Manager at Grand Coulee Power Office.

Excited students expressed interest in doing events like this again. Other engineers at GCPO are also interested in helping with follow-up activities at the school, another great way to build partnerships with our community.

The Grand Coulee Power Office sponsored three volunteers to assist Lake Roosevelt's after-school program with math and science awareness.

Thirty students in 4th through 7th grades participated. The SHARP Kids program at Lake Roosevelt School engages K - 12th grade students in hands-on STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Math) activities using the 'Project Lead the Way' curriculum.

Adult participants included Karmen Webb, SHARP Kids Program Coordinator, and teachers Dee Owen, Josh Kelton, and Hanna Doughty at Lake Roosevelt School. Coy Webb, Project Manager; Andrew Deelstra, Mechanical Engineer; and Dale Henriksen, Photographer, represented the Grand Coulee Power Office.

Published on July 02, 2015