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Lafayette’s steel bridge team took fifth place at the 16th annual National Student Steel Bridge Competition held May 25-26 at California State University-Northridge. This is the best finish ever by Lafayette, which has won its regional competition for two consecutive years and qualified for nationals for three consecutive years.
The construction team consisted of recent civil engineering graduates Daniel Kucz ’07, Eric Backlund ’07, Trevor Ortolano ’07, and Craig Bloom ’07. Their adviser is Stephen Kurtz, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Lafayette competed against 43 teams that qualified for the national competition by placing first or second in 18 regional competitions throughout the country. Lafayette placed first among eight teams at its regional qualifier, held May 4-5 at the University of Maryland.
The object of the steel bridge competition, which is sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and American Society of Civil Engineers, is to produce a bridge made of structural steel that is efficient and easy to construct. The structural efficiency score is determined by an equation that considers the weight of the bridge and its deflections, under a randomly located load of 2,500 pounds. The construction cost is determined by an equation that considers the speed with which the bridge may be assembled on the day of competition from size-limited parts over a mock river.
At the national competition, the team placed third in the “structural efficiency” category. To take first place overall, the team needed a construction time of four minutes and 24 seconds. Team members constructed their bridge in four minutes and 20 seconds, but ended in fifth place due to penalties for dropped hardware.
“With more than 200 engineering programs entering the bridge competition nationally, Lafayette is proud of its fifth-place finish,” says Kurtz.
Lafayette’s finish is the best showing by a team from the Mid-Atlantic Conference since PennStateUniversity’s fourth place finish in 2003. No team from the Mid-Atlantic Conference has ever won the national competition.
North DakotaStateUniversity won the national competition, with University of California-Davis taking second and University of Wisconsin-Madison taking third.
Students have been preparing for the competition since last August when Kucz and Backlund were joined by civil engineering graduates Lee Vanzler ’07 and Joseph Dantazko ’07 for an all-day design retreat. The fabrication process began in February and was completed by the end of April.
Other students who have assisted in fabricating the bridge include civil engineering graduates Lee Chrisman ’07 and Abdul-Rahman Salkini ’07, andcivil engineering majors Aaron Buchman ’08 (Williamsport, Md.), Kyle DeFranceschi ’09 (Catasaqua, Pa.), James Horting ’08 (Elizabethtown, Pa.), John Mitchell ’08 (River Vale, N.J.), Jared Kozemko ’08 (Wilkes Barre, Pa.), and Corey Cattano ’09 (New Providence, N.J.).
Prior to the regional competition, the team presented its design to a select group of alumni. This year’s team is also the focus of a documentary film. Freelance videographer Denis Danatzko P’07 has created a film over the course of the spring semester which will showcase the work that goes into preparing for the competition. He followed the students throughout the design and fabrication process, culminating in the regional competition. The video will help with recruitment, fundraising, and serve as a guide for future teams.