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Student Steel Bridge Competition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The American Institute of Steel Construction Student Steel Bridge Competition is an annual contest where teams of university students from American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapters studying the field of structural engineering where the students design and fabricate a bridge. The bridges must follow the specifications worded out in the rule book. Once the bridges are fabricated, students will go and build assemble the bridge at a competition.

History

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The competition began as a miniature bridge design competition using balsa wood to see which competitor's bridge is the best. Robert E. Shaw Jr., Associate Director of Education for the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), initiated the steel bridge competition in the spring of 1987 and was honored by the AISC in 2000.

The first teams to compete were Lawrence Technological University (who hosted the competition), Wayne State University, and Michigan Technological University.[1] In 1988, the competition grew to four regional conference competitions: North Central at the University of Detroit, Great Lakes at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Carolinas at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Ohio Valley at the University of Louisville. In 1992, Fromy Rosenberg, who was the Director of AISC College Relations, began the first National Student Steel Bridge Competition.[2]

Past champions

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The following are past champions.[3]

Year Host Champion
1992 Michigan State University Michigan State University
1993 Southern Polytechnic State University University of Alaska Fairbanks
1994 San Diego State University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
1995 University of Florida North Dakota State University
1996 SUNY Buffalo University of Alaska Fairbanks
1997 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona University of Florida
1998 Colorado State University University of Southwestern Louisiana
1999 University of Alaska Anchorage University of Nevada, Reno
2000 Texas A&M University California State University, Chico
2001 Clemson University Clemson University
2002 University of Wisconsin, Madison North Dakota State University
2003 San Diego State University University of Michigan
2004 Colorado School of Mines North Dakota State University
2005 University of Central Florida University of California, Davis
2006 University of Utah North Dakota State University
2007 California State University, Northridge North Dakota State University
2008 University of Florida University of California, Berkeley
2009 University of Nevada Las Vegas SUNY Canton
2010 Purdue University North Dakota State University
2011 Texas A&M University Lakehead University
2012 Clemson University University of California, Berkeley
2013 University of Washington University of California, Berkeley
2014 University of Akron University of California, Davis
2015 University of Missouri, Kansas City University of Florida
2016 Brigham Young University École de Technologie Supérieure
2017 Oregon State University École de Technologie Supérieure
2018 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lafayette College
2019 Southern Illinois University Carbondale Lafayette College
2020 Canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Canceled due to COVID-19 University of Florida
2022 Virginia Tech University of Florida
2023 University of California, San Diego University of Florida
2024 Louisiana Tech University of Florida
2025 Iowa State University TBD

Scoring

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The different criterias in the competition that will be judged are:[4]

  • Construction Time
  • Number of Builders
  • Total Weight
  • Aggregate Deflection
  • Lateral Deflection

These different criteria go into two different formulas to calculate the construction cost and economy cost. There are also penalties that can cause the construction time or weight to increase.

The overall winner has the lowest sum from the construction economy and structural efficiency categories.

Regional advancement

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Getting to the National Competition—teams compete at regional conferences around the United States. The top teams from each region are invited to compete at the National Competition each year.

  • In a region of 2–6 teams, the top competitor advances to nationals.
  • In a region of 7–12 teams, the top two competitors advance to nationals.
  • In a region of 13–18 teams, the top three competitors advance to nationals.
  • In a region with 19 or more teams, the top four competitors advance to nationals.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Shaw, Robert "Bridging the Gap: From Classroom Learning to Hands-On Experience". http://steelstructures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Bridging-the-Gap-Classroom-Learning-to-Hands-On-Experience.pdf
  2. ^ Hatfield, Frank. "History of the Competition". http://nssbc.info/ 2007
  3. ^ "Past NSSBC Champs", http://nssbc.info/
  4. ^ 2011 Steel Bridge Rules, Section 7. Archived from the original on July 9, 2010. Retrieved on August 8, 2024.
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AISC Student Steel Bridge Competition