The 50th Annual Colorado High School Bridge Building Contest is Right around the Corner!

Written by: Emily Quinn

A student sets his bridge before increased loads of weight are applied to measure the bridge's efficiency number.The 50th Annual Colorado High School Bridge Building Contest will take place in the Bureau of Reclamation’s Technical Services Center laboratory facilities in Denver, Colorado on February 18, 2017. Winners from this event will have a chance to compete in the National Bridge Building Competition.

High school students from across Colorado will be putting their physics and engineering skills to the test to try and construct the most efficient bridge. Students can participate individually, or on teams that consist of their classmates. The winners will receive cool prizes like scholarships, treasury bonds, and technology gadgets.

Students test their bridges with the help of volunteers

The event is co-sponsored by Reclamation, Professional Engineers of Colorado and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado. Reclamation’s Technical Service Center’s Concrete, Geotechnical and Structural lab will host this event for Reclamation. Students and teachers alike find value in this event, because it provides practical reinforcement of physics and engineering principles and allows the participants an opportunity to meet career engineers. Participants also get to tour Reclamation’s laboratory facilities.

Bridges are tested by applying increased weight loads to determine which bridge has the highest efficiency.

The winners who move on to compete in the National Bridge Building Competition may also have the chance to participate in the International Bridge Building Competition. To participate in this event students must construct model bridges using the specifications provided by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Students can either bring their bridges to the lab in person, or they can mail them.

Each bridge will be tested at the event by applying increasing weight loads until the bridge breaks. The winning bridge will have the highest efficiency number (the maximum weight the bridge is able to hold, divided by the bridge’s weight). In the past, bridges have held up to 20,000 times their weight, and up to 2,500 pounds!

To register, students must visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/50th-annual-colorado-high-school-bridge-building-contest-registration-29831365417 by February 10, 2017. To find out more about this event, visit http://nspe-co.org/events_bridge_building.php

Published on December 21, 2016