News Release Archive

Bridges Buckle at 48th Annual Colorado High School Bridge Building Competition

Media Contact: Lauren Meredith, 720-315-0056, lmeredith@usbr.gov

For Release: February 28, 2015

High school students from across Colorado joined the Bureau of Reclamation to test homemade, small-scale bridges for the 48th Annual Colorado High School Bridge Building Competition in Denver. Winners took home scholarships and the opportunity to represent Colorado at the International Bridge Building Competition in Portland, Oregon.

In Region One, Dade Lindley of Lindley Home School took first place with a bridge that weighed 26.75 grams and supported a max load of 104.42 kilograms (230.21 pounds), giving it an efficiency value of 3,903. Connor Roberts of Cherry Creek High School won second place with a bridge weighing 21.47 g, which supported 69.28 kg (152.74 lbs). Jalissa DeHaan of Front Range Christian School took third with a bridge weighing 13.54 g, which supported 33.27 kg (73.35 lbs).

In Region Two, Benjamin Jakeman of Cheyenne Mountain High School won first place with a bridge weighing 22.71 and supported 100.71 kg (222.03 lbs), giving it an overall efficiency value of 4,434. In second place, Blake Evans, also of Cheyenne Mountain High School, brought a bridge weighing 34.96 g that held 128.32 kg (282.9 lbs). Nikolas Provost of Rampart High School took third, with a bridge weighing 34.32 g that supported 99.23 kg (218.76 lbs). Other schools that competed in Region Two include Coal Ridge High School, Buena Vista High School and Manzanola High School.

Every year, students from across the state gather at the Bureau of Reclamation?s Materials Engineering and Research Laboratory to test out their homemade, small-scale bridges. These bridges, made of only a few, basic materials, are then tested to determine how much weight they can support. The winning models are determined by the structural efficiency ratio, or the amount of weight the bridge can hold divided by the weight of the bridge. The winning bridges have the highest structural efficiency ratios.

The state is split into two regions: northern (Region One) and southern (Region Two). The first and second place winners from each region are invited to compete at the International Bridge Building Contest, where prizes have included college scholarships. Winners from this year's competition were awarded college scholarships to go toward science and engineering education.

The High School Bridge Building Competition aims to encourage participation in the fields of science, math, engineering and technology. In addition to the competition, attendees and their families will explore Reclamation's laboratories and facilities with professional engineers, getting a chance to see research and science in action. Students can visit the humidity room, where working models of structures and dam construction materials are cured for optimum strength and will witness a 2,000 pound concrete cylinder crushed by a machine capable of 5-million pounds of compression.

Reclamation, the National Society of Professional Engineers of Colorado and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado sponsor the competition.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.