The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology's Steel Bridge Team will head to Gainesville, Florida, May 23-24 to compete in the American Society of Civil Engineer's (ASCE) National Steel Bridge Competition.
The team qualified to compete at the national competition after placing third overall at the 2008 ASCE Rocky Mountain Regional Conference, held April 4-5, 2007, in Golden, Colorado. At the competition, the bridge placed first in efficiency, first in lightness, second in construction speed, third in economy and fourth in stiffness.
The steel bridge competition involves designing, fabricating and constructing at 21' bridge able to support 2,500 lbs. The design for the bridge, "Prospector", took place during the fall semester. RAM Advanse, a new finite element modeling program, was utilized for this process. Over winter break, the design was drawn in AutoCAD and steel was acquired by a generous donation from Pacific Steel and Recycling. Fabrication of the 67 members, which comprise the bridge, took place Jan. 14-March 14. During the two weeks before competition, the construction crew practiced putting the bridge together and the bridge was loaded to 80 percent to check its deflection. Currently, the construction script is being revised to improve construction speed.
The students competing: Eric Brandner (civil engineering, Aberdeen), Beth Comes (civil engineering, Rapid City), Chris Hammrich (atmospheric science, Milbank), Phillip Knodel (civil engineering, Aberdeen), Kaz Kunishige (civil engineering, Rapid City), Joseph Matuska (civil engineering, Lake Andes), Shawn McFarland (civil engineering, Selby), Brett Morford (civil engineering, Brandon), Terri Morris (civil engineering, Belle Fourche), Leah Nehl (civil engineering, Rapid City), Ben Sampica (civil engineering, Canton) and Michelle Stadel (civil engineering, Redfield).