The Optimal Design is Created with Balance in Mind

Last Friday, students in the Civil Engineering program were tasked to construct their own bridge designs. Scores were awarded based on construction speed, accessing their build time and the number of builders required to construct their proposed bridge. Over this past week, staff, students and community members judged the bridges based on aesthetics.

Today, we performed the final component of achieving the optimal design; the stress test. Bridges were weighted and loaded until failure. The strongest bridge (also the heaviest) supported 46.2lbs. The hope of achieving the optimal design requires a balance of strength, construction efficiency, cost and awareness of the implications of the proposed design. This year’s optimal bridge design was awarded to Bridge #6.

The Civil Engineering department would like to thank everyone for taking the time to visit the construction and testing of the bridges, as well as voting for their favourite bridge. A special thank you to the students who embraced this challenge and applied their knowledge to strive for balance.