The ASCE/AISC steel bridge competition is a student contest that tests the knowledge and practicality of teams of university students from American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapters in the field of structural engineering. Ideally, the design and fabrication of the bridge is conceived and completed entirely by the students and the participation of the students in the process is highly encouraged. Some schools may not have the proper facilities and guidance necessary to erect the model bridge and may work with a commercial fabricator. However, the students must be fully responsible for the design and instructions, they must coordinate with the fabricator, and they must monitor the construction process.
The bridges must follow specifications explained in the rule book. The rules of the competition are changed annually to further enhance the quality of the competition and to prevent the submission of an already existing bridge.
The competition is principally sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Steel Construction with additional sponsorship by the American Iron and Steel Institute, the National Steel Bridge Alliance, Nucor Corporation, and The James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation.[1]
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The steel bridge competition, in its embryonic form, began as a miniature bridge design competition using balsa wood to see which competitor's bridge is the best. Robert E. Shaw, who managed college relations for the American Institute of Steel Construction initiated the steel bridge competition in the spring of 1987 and was honored by the AISC in 2000 for his achievement. The first teams to compete were Lawrence Technological University(who hosted the competition), Wayne State University, and Michigan State University who won the first few competitions. Soon after, other universities from different regions of the United States began local steel bridge competitions and on 1992, Fromy Rosenberg, who was the new Director of AISC College Relations, began the first ever National Student Steel Bridge Competition.[2]
For a full description of the 2011 rules and regulations, including the scoring go to: Steel Bridge 2011 Rules[4]
The different categories in the competition that will be judged are:
The overall winner has the lowest sum from the construction economy and structural efficiency categories.
Getting to the National Competition - Teams from ASCE student chapters compete at regional conferences around the United States. The top teams from each region are invited to compete at the National Competition each year.
ASCE/AISC National Student Steel Bridge Competition Information: http://www.nssbc.info/