Several PHS students went to Purdue University to see how much the wooden bridges they built could hold. Top row: Jeff Overmeyer, Jordan Krpan, Cody Benjamin, Hayden Wolfe, Sean Hatfield, Aaron Wagers, Tabitha Sherwood, Josh Phillips, Cody Pozil, Andrew Large, Kam Eisenhower, Greg Rundle, Matthew Libersky, Elizabeth Wolford. Middle Row: Santiago Ibarra, Nelson Wagner, Phil Iwinski, Diego Ibarra, Alex Gallardo, Deven Berger. Bottom Row: Micah Harner, Zoe Mack, Sarah Iwinski, Sommer McClellan, Tori MacLain, Makayla Fox. Photo contributed by: Purdue

By Ellen Smith

For some students it is that bridge-breaking time of year again.  After weeks of preparation, students from PHS competed in the Bridge Bust, an annual event held at Purdue University.

Teacher Mrs. Lori McClellan is leader of this project, and has been for the five years that PHS has participated in it.  “It is a contest held at Purdue University by the Civil Engineering department  and sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE),” she said.  Freshman Makayla Fox said the competition was held at Purdue in one of the grand ballrooms.  Senior Cody Benjamin defines the Bridge Bust as “a competition of bridge strength and efficiency, and also aesthetics [appearance].”

The contest is relatively simple.  Students build a bridge, and take it to compete at the Bridge Bust.  Mrs. McClellan said that “awards are given to the top three bridges for aesthetics, as well as the top three bridges for efficiency.” The efficiency is tested by adding weight to the bridge until it breaks.

Bridges must be built and designed according to the specifications the program gives. Benjamin described the rules, saying that “they can be a maximum height of eight inches, maximum width of six inches, length of 30 inches.  The size varies greatly.”  These regulations give students many options as to how they want their bridge to look.  “In order to win, you have to either build a strong bridge…or a bridge that has appealing looks.” Benjamin said.

Preparing for the Bridge Bust takes a lot of work in advance.  Mrs. McClellan has 26 students participating in the program this year. On average, she says they “have between 20-30 students each year.” These students can either pair up or work alone.

Freshmen Sommer McClellan and Sarah Iwinski worked as partners for the competition.  “Sommer and I put in about 20 hours or more [on our bridge]” Iwinski said, while building took Benjamin approximately “18 hours to build it over the course of three days.”  It took senior Andrew Large “16 hours give or take” to build.

A lot has to be taken into account when building a bridge, whether it be life size or for the Bridge Bust program. The scaled down bridges are made of two things: “20 sticks of [lightweight] balsa wood, and wood glue.” said Fox.  Mrs. McClellan elaborates, saying “Students have to design the bridge and then build it.  I offer help sessions to help students with research for designing the bridges and then offer advice while they build.”

Iwinski and McClellan “watched videos and researched stuff” to learn how to build their bridge.

There are several different things students must consider while building and designing.  Mrs. McClellan said a good strategy for building is to “build [a bridge] as light as possible that will also hold a lot of weight.  The structural design is very important as is the neatness of the building.”

With all processes and experiments, failure is bound to come up, and Iwinski laughed as she said that “Yes! We had problems along the way with measuring, cutting, and having our bridge [be] too long…”  McClellan recounted that they were ¼ of an inch over.  Large said that he had difficulty cutting his bridge pieces and fitting them correctly, so they had to recut.

Benjamin said that surprisingly, he did not have any problems. “I took my time and cut and glued the pieces precisely.” he remembered.  Having exact measurements and good architecture definitely pays off.  When a bridge is judged, efficiency is graded by the ratio of weight held by the bridge divided by the bridge’s weight.  Lots of planning is a must for a successful bridge.

At the competition, PHS students competed very well.  Plymouth’s ton ten bridges in the category of structural efficiency were: in 7th place Andrew Large and Cody Pozil, in 9th place Makayla Fox, in 10th place Matt Libersky, in 12th place Deven Berger and Nelson Wagner, in 16th place Elizabeth Wolford and Greg Rundle, in 21st place Alex Gallardo, in 25th place Cody Benjamin and Josh Phillips, in 27th Sommer McClellan and Sarah Iwinski, in 28th place Aaron Rogers, and in 34th Zoe Mack and Kameron Eisenhower.  Aeshetics winners out of a perfect score of 15 were: the team of Santiago Ibarra and Jeff Overmyer with a 14, Makalya Fox and the team of Cody Benjamin and Josh Phillips with a 13, the team of Andrew Large and Cody Pozil, Sommer McClellan and Sarah Iwinski, and Phillip Iwinski and Jordan Krpan with 12’s.  Finally, Matt Libersky, Alex Gallardo, and the team of Victoria MacLain and Tabitha Sherwood received 11’s.

This activity that many students take part in can actually have future benefits.  “First place [at the competition] gets a $100 cash scholarship, second place gets a $50 cash scholarship, and third place gets Purdue apparel.” said Mrs. McClellan.  These scholarships can definitely help students when applying for a college, and theoretically, a very successful “bridge buster” could earn multiple scholarships over the four years of high school.

McClellan added that this activity teaches “problem solving skills using a hands-on approach.  It also opens students’ eyes to the possibilities an engineering degree can offer.”  McClellan and Iwinski agreed, saying that the program is beneficial if one wanted to pursue the career field of engineering.  Large said that he will actually be attending Purdue University next year.

Whether they are in it for future benefits or great memories, the students that participated in this year’s Bridge Bust had a great time preparing and competing at the contest.