The fourth annual High School Bridge Building Competition was a huge success. Teams of future engineers from Vermont high schools spent weeks (or even months) designing and building bridges out of popsicle sticks, dental floss, and Elmer’s craft glue. The bridges and their builders are judged on bridge weight, aesthetics, structural efficiency, presentation & team spirit, and actual load supported by the bridge. Load is tested on the Gordonator, a portable hydraulic press created by students, and named for Professor Gordon Reynolds of the civil program.
The overall winning teams and the winners of each category are listed below.
1st place and recipients of $2,000 scholarships to Vermont Tech
Team #2 from Arlington High Memorial High School
2nd place and recipients of $1,500 scholarships to Vermont Tech
Team #3 from Arlington Memorial High School
3rd place and recipients of $1,000 scholarships to Vermont Tech *tie*
Team #12 from Green Mountain Technology Center
Team #28 from Proctor High School
Aesthetics & Originality of Design
Team #39 from Vergennes Union High School
Presentation & Team Spirit *tie*
Team #36 St. Johnsbury Academy
Team #39 Vergennes Union High School
Lowest Error in Predicted Load
Team #37 Stafford Technical Center – Predicted 7 lbs & broke at 6.8 lbs
Structural Efficiency
Team #2 Arlington Memorial High School – Load/bridge weight
Lowest Weight of Bridge
Team #30 Randolph Union High School – 1.3 lbs.
Actual Load in Competition
Team #36 St. Johnsbury Academy -1,646 lbs. sets the new record high for this competition.
Team #2 Arlington Memorial High School – 929 lbs.
Team #39 Vergennes Union High School – 635 lbs.
If you didn’t make it to the high school competition, you can see the middle school event on April 12th at 9 AM in the Judd Gymnasium.