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On 26 August, St Alban’s College in Lynnwood, Pretoria, had the privilege of hosting the bridge building competition once again. Main sponsor, BKS, a multidisciplinary consulting engineering and management firm, was visibly on board during the proceedings. Finalist teams from across South Africa and Namibia, come to compete to see which team could build the strongest bridge using timber, string and glue supplied by Pratley.
Fourteen teams (the best of the best) took part. The group of future engineers was given tips about bridge building by Mauritz Opperman, a structural engineer from BKS in the morning. Each team was given the same building supplies with the goal to see which 810mm bridge, the span for this year’s competition, could carry the heaviest load.
During the testing phase of the competition that evening, bridges were secured to the aluminium loading ‘rig’ to test their strength. The winning bridge was the heaviest one this year, weighing a mere 165 grams it carried an amazing 90 kilograms before it cracked under the strain. The bridge was built by Jan Joosten, Stephan Stegen and Jonas Graf, members of the proud team from Domino Servite High School. The school won again for the second time in succession. Second place went to Brackenfell High School from Cape. Their bridge weighed 135 g and carried 63 kg. Merrifield College from East London came third with a bridge weighing 154 g that withstood 36 kg before destruction. For the three teams to reach the winning marks of 133, 117 and 68 respectively, aspects such as aesthetics, the mass of the bridge and ultimately the weight-bearing capacity determined the winning bridge.
Building
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Concentrating
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Testing
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Winners!
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Second
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Third
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The bridge building competition was initiated by the SAICE Durban Branch in 1991 to help generate further interest in maths and science among high school children. As part of SAICE’s corporate social responsibility and career guidance efforts, we want to help encourage young people’s interest in studying engineering as the global industry faces a massive shortage of engineers in the coming decades. This initiative, in support of government’s objective to address the scarce skills situation in South Africa, has since its inception, captured the imagination of learners and has led to many choosing civil engineering as a career!
Details:
Venue: St Alban's College Lynnwood, Pretoria
Date: Friday, 26 August 2011
Time: 08:00
Downloads
For more information contact Zina Girald at SAICE National Office on +27 11 805 5947 or zina@saice.org.za.