UW Steel Bridge Team

UW Steel Bridge Team Wins
at Regional Competition

May 14, 2007 - The University of Wyoming steel bridge team placed first overall in the annual regional student steel bridge competition at the University of Colorado at Boulder, sponsored by Rocky Mountain Region AISC/ASCE (American Institute of Steel Construction/American Society of Civil Engineers).

Winning team members were Becki Arneson, Rawlins; Paul Cox, Wellington, Colo.; Aaron Crego, Fort Collins, Colo.; Ben Nemec, Seabrook, Texas; John "Chris" Potter, Rock Springs; Richard Price, Cheyenne; and Jim Staebler, Powell. Faculty advisers for the group are professors Thom Edgar, Michael Barker and Robert Erikson.

The team took first place in five of six categories: aesthetics, construction speed, construction economy, structural efficiency and lightness. By winning the overall regional competition, UW qualifies for national competition where they will compete against 45 teams May 25-26 at California State University, Northridge.

The annual steel bridge competition requires civil engineering students to design, fabricate, and construct a 1/10 scale model to replace a century-old bridge spanning a river and adjacent floodway. The model bridges are approximately 19 to 21 feet long, erected under simulated field conditions, and tested under a loading of 2,500 pounds.

The design must account for material cost (weight), labor cost (construction time), strength (simulated test load), and stiffness (measured deflection under load).

“To continually challenge civil engineering students across the United States and Canada, the specifications change each year,” Edgar says.

UW's bridge was designed and fabricated at the university by the engineering students prior to the competition.

“The team designed its bridge by examining 36 possible load cases because the actual placement of the loading at competition would be determined by a roll of dice,” Edgar says.

At the competition spectators and judges watched as the teams assembled their bridges as quickly as possible, and after construction each completed bridge was weighed to determine the lightest bridge. To test strength and stiffness, each bridge was loaded using 100 pieces of 25-pound steel to simulate a loaded truck crossing the bridge.

Technical expertise, funding, and materials were provided by the College of Engineering, Puma Steel, Fastenal and Ace Hardware. Alumni donations through the Annual Fund helped to support construction and travel.

Photo
Strong Bridge -- University of Wyoming civil engineering students test the strength of a steel bridge they designed and fabricated. From left are Aaron Crego, Fort Collins, Colo., Jim Staebler, Powell, and Richard Price, Cheyenne. They are members of a UW team that won first place in a regional steel bridge competition held at the University of Colorado. (UW Photo)