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Steel
Bridge
2008 New England Regional Competition:
The 2008 New England
Regional Competition will be held April 5th at the
University of New Hamshire at the Whittemore Center in
Durham New Hampshire. Check out the
New England
Regional Competition Website,
Official Student
Steel Bridge Website, or the website for the National
Steel Bridge Competition at
http://www.2008steelbridge.com.
2007 New England Regional Competition Recap:
Our bridge performed quite well at the
University of Connecticut this year. We took 6th place out of 11 competitors. We did not
make the cut for nationals this year, but we have in two of the last
three years
(placing in nationals at both Golden, Colorado and Orlando, Florida) to
be proud about. Next year's performance is sure to be even more stellar
than this years. We did, however, win the award for best aesthetics. Congratulations to Steve Jahnes and his crew for designing and constructing a fantastic bridge.
The following is the
results from the 2007 competition. The scores are monetary cost values based
on aesthetics, weight, deflection, and build time.
|
Merrimack |
$3,945,833 |
|
MIT |
$4,012,500 |
|
UConn |
$4,047,917 |
|
Laval |
$4,057,500 |
|
Vermont |
$6,120,000 |
|
Northeastern |
$6,704,167 |
|
Maine |
$8,633,750 |
|
Tufts |
$12,266,250 |
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Wentworth |
$13,001,250 |
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UMass-Amherst |
$45,051,667 |
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New Hampshire |
$82,725,000 |
The annual steel
bridge competition is held in the early spring and the design and fabrication
usually take place in the fall. The process consists of the design,
fabrication, and testing of a bridge made under given constraints. For
example, mer size, member weight, and the type of connections that
can be used are three of the standard constraints. Our student team
designs the bridge to meet these specifications and then analyzes it
using Visual Analysis, which models the deflections for the given
loads. They then modify the design, create the plans, and fabricate the
bridge. We usually get assistance from local steel companies who help
us mill the members. As of this year, all the welding done is by the
students. Everyone is welcome to help out with this project, and
everyone’s input is valuable. It is a fun event and a great
learning experience for anyone interested in structural designs.
Through this project, both on the drawing board and in the fabrication
labs, participating students learn about structural analysis, time
management, and teamwork.
For
more information or to be added to the email distribution
list, contact Matt Kelly.
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