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When is it ideal to be 3.5 feet wide, 4.5 feet tall and 21.5 feet long? When it’s a structure in the 2005 Steel Bridge Competition which was held earlier thie month. The University of Maine hosted the competition this year and boasted their eighth competing bridge. The challenge involved building a single span bridge over a marsh.
The competition, sponsored by American Institution of Steel Construction, sets forth rules and regulations simulating real life. Each team works all year to construct a bridge and practices putting it together for the time-trial. The parts are set out and ready to use as teams race around trying to build the bridge speedily with as little penalties as possible.
The bridges were required to reach across a marshland. Temporary support could be used during construction. Blue tape lined the carpets of Wells Commons representing undisturbed areas of marshland. Even a toe inside this tape meant 10 seconds added to the final tally. Maine raced to a 22 minute finish, penalties included.
Student teams from 10 New England Universities came to compete. Northeastern University and Norwich University both qualified for Nationals in Orlando, Fla. These two teams made it past the judges in both the specifications and the load bearing stage. Seven teams disqualified before loading weight.
Maine’s team cleared all of the dimension specifications, but was disqualified when loading the 2,500 pounds onto the bridge. With over two thirds of the weight on the bridge, the connections were weak and broke under the poundage.
“The frustration is tough when a bridge buckles,” said Bill Davids, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the team’s faculty advisor. “The real value of this competition is teamwork, coordination and organization.”
Team member Kourtney Tourigny said many hours of work led them to the event.
“All together we spent hundreds of hours,” she said. “Fifty hours alone were spent practicing.”
Designing started last summer. When spring semester rolled around the team met multiple times each week. Once the bridge was designed, the team put the design through computer analysis and gathered materials with the help of area businesses. Next the parts were fabricated and the practicing began.
Only six of the team members are on the floor during construction. Everyone else helped in various aspects of hosting or fabrication. The event is hosted each year by a volunteer school.
“This year the team said ‘Let’s do it,’” Davids said.
University engineering students take four years of courses learning about principles. Competitions like the Steel Bridge allow students to tackle issues of construction and efficiency all while working to stay within regulations. Using structural steel, design and knowledge students communicate, take initiative and get the job done.
Team captain Jamie Morneau said the lessons learned at this years event will help the team in the future.
“This is the third year of disqualification,” he said. “Our connections will be fixed for next year’s competition.”
