Students’ Steel Bridge Models Will be Assembled, Tested in Contest Thursday

Students in an upper-level civil engineering course competed Dec. 4 to see who could create the best steel bridge model in Acopian Engineering Center rooms 111 and 117.

The event, which pitted the class’ morning and afternoon lab sections against each other, was part of preparations for Lafayette’s entry in the National Steel Bridge Competition, an intercollegiate engineering contest involving students representing more than 200 colleges and universities around the world. Teams compete by designing and fabricating a two-span, 25 foot-long steel bridge, spanning a mock river.

Students in the Fundamentals of Structural Engineering course taught by Steve Kurtz, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, designed, cut, welded, drilled, and otherwise fabricated two steel bridges according to the rules of the national competition. To the greatest extent possible, each lab section kept its bridge secret over the eight weeks leading up to the class competition.

The morning section won, having created the lowest “cost” bridge that did not fail under a vertical load of 2,500 lbs. The winning students were senior Michelle DiMeglio (Morton, Pa.), who also is pursuing a degree in English, and juniors Susan Bowers (Williamsport, Pa.), Stephen Bono (Upper Saddle River, N.J.), Kyle DeLabar (North Catasauqua, Pa.), Sandra Henning (Jarrettsville, Md.), Ron Manney (Coal Township, Pa.), Michael Nilson (Wantagh, N.Y.), Matt Taverna (Whitesboro, N.Y.), Kevin Fitzpatrick (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), Jeremiah O’Neill (Newburyport, Mass.), Jeff Chittim (Barrington, R.I.), Cristin MacDonald (Glendora, N.J.), and Blaire Banagan (Delmar, N.Y.).

Cost is the sum of two components:

• Structural cost — A bridge that is light and deflects very little under load has a low structural cost. Efficient structural design results in low structural cost.
• Construction cost — No part of the bridge is allowed to exceed the dimensions of a prismatic box of 42 by six by six inches. Hence, the bridges consist of dozens of components that must be bolted together. The team able to put its bridge together most quickly has the lowest construction cost. Simplicity, elegance, and practical consideration for constructibility result in low construction cost.

Each team assembled its bridge Thursday morning. No one was allowed to step in the mock river except the team member designated to be the “barge.” Dimensions of the bridges were checked to assure compliance with the rules. Bridges were load-tested with 2,500 lbs. randomly located on the structures.