Students at Missouri University of Science and Technology are learning the
engineering principles of bridge building by working on a scale model that will
be entered in an annual competition sponsored by the American Institute of
Steel Construction.

The Missouri S&T Steel Bridge Team will compete against approximately 12
teams from other universities in the regional competition, which will be held
April 17-18 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Team members design and fabricate bridges that are reassembled on site.
Judges look at construction speed, design aesthetics, lightness, stiffness and
structural efficiency. The bridges are “loaded” to test structural
performance.

“The main challenge this year is to reduce our construction time to under 10
minutes, and to do better than in-state rivals Mizzou and UMKC, as well as
qualify for nationals,” says Missouri S&T team member Levi Smith, a senior
in architectural engineering from St. Joseph, Mo.

The top three teams in Arkansas will advance to the national competition May
23-24 in Gainesville, Fla.

Missouri S&T’s 2008 bridge is just under 21-feet long and just under six
feet high. The decking is a little over four feet wide.

During the design phase, the team produced computerized 3-D models of its
bridge and conducted various tests to see how it performs under possible load
combinations.

The following are members of Missouri S&T’s 2008 Steel Bridge Team:

– Josh Dean, a junior in engineering management from Rolla

– Jeremy Forrest, a senior in civil engineering from Brumley, Mo.

– Taylor Hall, a sophomore in civil engineering from Nevada, Mo.

– Kierstyn Harvey, a junior in civil engineering from St. Albans, Mo.

– Zach Johnson, a senior in computer engineering from Lee’s Summit, Mo.

– Erik Lorince, a senior in aerospace engineering from O’Fallon, Mo.

– Shaun McConnaughey, a senior in civil engineering from Neosho, Mo.

– Nathan Muncy, a junior in civil engineering from Kansas City, Mo.

– Grant Russell, a freshman in civil engineering from Kansas City, Mo.

– Michelle Scheibel, a junior in architectural engineering from O’Fallon,
Ill.

– Levi Smith, a senior in architectural engineering from St. Joseph, Mo.

– Lisa Stine, a junior in architectural engineering from Carbondale,
Ill.

– Alex Warren, a junior in mining engineering from St. Joseph, Mo.

– Amanda Wyatt, a senior in architectural engineering from Blue Springs,
Mo.