The Butler County Engineer's
Office held its second annual bridge building competition in
conjunction with the Hamilton City Schools Gifted Program last
Friday morning. Approximately 70 students participated as BCEO
engineers subjected each student's toothpick bridge to a load
stress test.
"Increasing amounts
of weight are applied to each bridge until it breaks," said
County Engineer Greg Wilkens. "The bridge able to withstand
the most weight wins. But more importantly, these students learn
a little something about engineering and the physics of bridge
design. Our goal is to expose them to engineering principles
in a real life situation and hopefully inspire them to pursue
careers in the field of engineering."
Two months ago, BCEO
engineers went into the classrooms and spoke to students in the
gifted program about bridge engineering. At that time the students
were given certain parameters for designing and building their
toothpick bridges. Materials were also provided -- 1,000 toothpicks
each and lots of glue.
The Winners
- Winner Adam
Pankey from Buchanan Elementary School with his
- demolished
bridge.
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This year's winning
bridge was built by Adam Pankey from Buchanan Elementary School
and withstood up to 53 pounds point loaded. Point loading refers
to applying all the weight to a single spot on a bridge versus
that weight being spread evenly across the entire structure.
Point loading is usually applied to the spot that engineers deem
the most critical or vulnerable on a bridge -- typically mid-span.
Second place went to
Elizabeth Ott of Lincoln Elementary whose bridge broke at 45.5
pounds. The third place bridge withstood 31 pounds of pressure
and was constructed by Jaime Murray from Cleveland Elementary
School.
"We're proud of
all the kids and hope they had fun," said Engineering Manager
Kar Singh, who helped organize the event. "As we pointed
out last year, it's amazing that a toothpick weighs less than
one ounce and that the total weight of each bridge was less than
a pound, yet many of these bridges were able to withstand 20
pounds or more. This provides a good lesson in how we incorporate
basic laws of physics when designing real structures."
Students were also
given a tour of the Engineer's Office and treated to lunch. Special
t-shirts commemorating the event were also given to the students.
Mary Ann Richter, Gifted
Intervention Specialist with the Hamilton City Schools Gifted
Program said "The Butler County Engineers Office and the
Hamilton City School District Gifted Education Department joined
in a community effort to provide an opportunity for students
to learn and understand the field of engineering, especially
the science of bridge building. This was a great opportunity
for students to explore, to learn, to receive professional instruction
from real engineers in the field, and to apply what they learned
to a real bridge building activity that had a purpose. Students
found this hands-on learning experience to be very challenging
and they had to persevere through frustration to produce a successful
bridge. The engineers were great role models for the students,
showing professionalism at all times coupled with a patient,
caring manner. This was a great opportunity for these students
to experience working like a real engineer."
Here are some comments
from students who participated:
- "Thank you for
the field trip to your office....It's pretty cool how toothpicks
can hold 53 pounds."
- "Thank you for
giving us the tour around the Butler County engineer's Office
and for providing us with the supplies we needed to build our
bridges....I also liked how you weighed the bridges patiently
and answered our questions."
- "I like the way
that you guys were so patient....and answered every question
that we kids asked. I really liked to learn about the different
kinds of bridges. I also really liked participating in the bridge
contest. It was really fun."
- "It was cool
seeing something I made out of toothpicks hold 9.5 pounds."
- "The contest
was both fun and challenging."
- "Thank you for
the day that you spent with us....The engineers explained everything
very clearly and I understood mostly everything they said."
- Click on images
to enlarge.
- Students look
on as BCEO engineer's load test bridges.
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- Students have
their picture taken with their bridges.
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- That's a pretty
fancy bridge.
.........
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- Here's another
bridge...
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- ...and another...
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- ...and another.
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- A bridge close-up...
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- ...and another...
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- ...and another...
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- ...and another....
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- ...and another...
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- ...and another.
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- BCEO Design
Engineer Dave Quimby sets up point-loading on this bridge.
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- A close-up
of the point-loading process. ........................................
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- A bucket is
suspended and weights are gradually added. .......
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- A student
with his bridge.
............. ......................................
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- Same student
after his bridge was "demolished" by BCEO engineers.
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- Another student
with her "demolished" bridge. ...................
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- # # #
For more information
contact:
Chris
Petrocy, BCEO Public Information Supervisor
Greg Wilkens, P.E., P.S.,
Butler County Engineer
Phone 513.867.5744 • Fax 513.867.5849
