'Bridge to the Future' Draws 600 Area High-School Students to UC to Test Their Bridge-Building Skills

The University of Cincinnati College of Engineering’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering ends a two-week long celebration of National Engineers Week with the annual bridge-building competition for area high-school students on Friday, Mar. 2, in Zimmer Auditorium from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"This year’s UC 'Civil Engineering High School Bridge Competition' will attract more than 600 high-school juniors and seniors to UC’s campus," says organizer Gian Rassati, assistant professor of structural engineering. "We are tremendously excited that the number of participants virtually doubled from last year, and keeps increasing as time goes by."

The rules for the event were adapted from the Science Olympiad, a national organization whose mission is “To promote and improve student interest in science and to improve the quality of k-12 science education throughout the nation.” The student teams consist of one to three high-school students. No student may be on more than one team and each team must be sponsored by a high-school teacher.

Each team constructs a bridge that must be a single structure constructed of wood bonded by glue. The entire bridge, including the road surface, must be built with pieces of wood no larger than ¼" high and ¼" wide. The bridges have to weigh less than 0.68kg (about 1½ pounds). The road surface must allow the free passage of a rolling Matchbox™ or Hot Wheels™ model car along its entire length.

Bridges are registered upon the students’ arrival and impounded on registration. After the testing, the bridges are returned to the students. First, the bridge is subjected to a rolling test. The bridge is inclined by placing a 50mm-high block under one end of the bridge. The model car is placed on the elevated end of the road surface and allowed to roll down its length and exit the bridge. If the car gets stuck, the students may restart from that point. Two restarts are allowed. There is no score for the rolling test. Failure of this test disqualifies the bridge.

Second, the bridge’s strength and stiffness are tested, based on its load-bearing abilities. Awards will be given in each of three categories:

• Best Strength 
• Best Stiffness
• Best Overall

The 2007 bridge-building competition is sponsored by CONTECH Bridge Solutions Inc., an international provider of Plate, Precast and Truss prefabricated bridge structures based in West Chester, Ohio.

"We are thrilled to participate in the education and development of future engineers. UC and Civil Engineering do an incredible job of preparing graduates for professional careers in engineering," says William Lockwood, PE, an alum of the CEE Department and Senior Vice President of CONTECH Bridge Solutions.

“We owe a big thank you to all dedicated high school teachers that work hard to prepare their students for the competition," adds Rassati. "Many thanks also go to all CEE students who volunteer their time to contribute to a successful event.”

"By competing, the students will be introduced to the concept of what engineers do, while applying their knowledge of physics and mathematic," Rassati says. "Students will be the center of the event, and will have the opportunity to experience first-hand one day of campus life, and visit all of UC’s new outstanding facilities. By doing so, we are hoping to show the students that engineering in general, and in particular civil engineering, is a viable, exciting, and socially important discipline, thereby increasing the number of students choosing UC to pursue their life dream with the help of an engineering degree."