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News Release Archive
Bridges Show Their Strength
Media Contact:
Peter Soeth, (303) 445-3615, psoeth@do.usbr.gov
For Release: February 25, 2006
All the bridges have been broken, the dust has settled, and the winners have emerged at the 39th Annual Colorado High School Bridge Building Contest. In all, 57 high school students from around the State of Colorado had their bridges tested in today's event. In Region 1, Mark Fairbanks, a student at Ponderosa High School in Parker, won when his 25.00 gram basswood bridge held 111.5928 kilograms. That is more then 4450 times its own weight.
Other students who placed in Region 1 are: Second, Rebecca Travers of Center Academy High School; Third, Nicolas Pax of Ponderosa High School; Fourth, Yufei Nie of Cherry Creek High School; and Fifth, Hannah Nielson of Lincoln High School.
In Region 2, Paul Gillie, a student at Woodland Park High School in Woodland Park, won when his 29.97 gram basswood bridge held 237.083 kilograms. That is more then 7900 times its own weight.
Other students who placed in Region 2 are: Second, Kyle Moody of Coronado High School; Third, Seth Parker of Coronado High School; Fourth, Jared Hansford of Buena Vista High School; and Fifth, Luke Montoya of Wasson High School.
In the team competition from Region 1, Ponderosa High School in Parker finished first with their three bridges holding more then 11,800 times their own weight. Other teams from Region 1 are: Second, Cherry Creek High School; Third, Center Acadamy High School; Fourth, Gateway High School; and Fifth, Denver School of Science and Technology.
In the team competition from Region 2, Coronado High School in Colorado Springs finished first with their two bridges holding more then 10,594 times their own weight. Other teams from Region 1 are: Second, Woodland Park High School; Third, Buena Vista High School; Fourth, Wasson High School; and Fifth, Cheyenne Mountain High School.
This year students designed a simplified version of a real-world arch bridge. The bridges were built with basswood and glue. The winning models were determined by the structural efficiency ratio, which is the maximum load divided by the weight of the bridge.
The state is divided into two regions, northern (Region 1) and southern (Region 2), with winners determined from each region. The first and second place winners from each region will be invited to compete in the international competition to be held on April 8, 2006, in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The contest is jointly sponsored by the Professional Engineers of Colorado, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, and the Bureau of Reclamation.
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