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Weekly UpdatesLakehead University civil engineering students are not intimidated by competing against big American colleges.
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A four-person team of student bridge builders are heading to Las Vegas this May to seek international bragging rights in a U.S. Competition. Lakehead finished first in a US. Mid-West Regional steel bridge-building competition as the sole Canadian entry this past spring at North Dakota State University in Fargo.
Strong finishes at the regionals have become an annual rite of passage for Lakehead at the annual American Society of Civil Engineers Mid-West Regional Conference and Student Steel Bridge Competition. Lakehead has placed in the top five; four times since 2002.
This past March, they competed against an, eight-team field that included North and South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the home North Dakota State team.
At the U.S. national competition in Las Vegas, May 22-23, they'll square off against 45 teams including the likes of Texas A & M, University of California at Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lakehead has been to the nationals 10 times in 12 years, placing second, fourth and fifth on two occasions.
"We get some very competitive teams at these steel bridge competitions," said student advisor Timo Tikka, a Lakehead civil engineering associate professor. "At this design-build competition it's a show of the whole process."
After attending their first regional conference in 1997 as spectators, Lakehead began competing a year later. Their first bridge attempt was unsuccessful when their bridge collapsed.
This year, students had to design and fabricate a 1/10 model of a century-old bridge which spans a simulated river and floodway The model are erected under simulated field conditions and then load-tested.
"When you're working on a small scale it actually becomes more challenging than when working on a real bridge. Errors are multiplied," said Tikka.
The competition has become a "capstone" project of the four-year degree program. Students prepare in September with the AutoCAD computer modelling and begin the fabrication work of welding, machining, cutting and piecing together the structure in January.
Prior to the competition, students rehearse almost like a pit crew would in assembling the 20-foot span of this oversized meccano set.
An emphasis is placed on making optimal use of all building material and making it as light as possible with good, solid connections.
Bridge specs and rules change annually, but the competition is designed to mirror on-site conditions with a cumulative score given for materials, labour costs, traffic load, performance and weight
There's a simulated wetland to cross and a staging area where students run pieces out to the assembly site.
"They have to launch the bridge one piece at a time, and you have to cantilever things and ' make sure it balances, with piers for temporary support, and wherever you have a connection, you have to put a nut and bolt in," said Tikka.
The Lakehead team were the second fastest bridge builders, but it's not just speed that counts. Judges also look at the number of builders - "construction by economy" and measure that against penalties and load-bearing capabilities, plus there's a dollar value placed on the project.
"Basically you're trying to get the lowest score to win."
There are also rules for safety. Dropping a nut is 10-second penalty, dropping the entire bridge is 30-second violation.
With consistently good finishes, Lakehead is becoming a juggernaut at these competitions.
Tikka believes it's because their small class sizes, allow students get much more personal attention from instructors.
About 40 students attend first and second year civil engineering, a number which swells to about 80 by third year.
"We have a variety of students that come in from transition programs that we have for people who get their technology diploma at Sault College then come to Lakehead to finish their degree in two years."
Some arrive with a construction background and with skilled trade capabilities.
"We get some very practical-oriented students with good hands-on experience," said Tikka.
Overall about 700 engineering students are enrolled at Lakehead in the civil, mechanical, electrical, software and chemical engineering fields.
The Fargo competition also included a student paper competition where students are asked to compose and present a 2,000-word technical paper.
Third-year civil engineering student Fred Lavoie took home top honours there as well.
www.lakeheadu.ca
BY IAN ROSS
Northern Ontario Business
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