Lakehead’s Steel Bridge Team Takes Third Place Overall at U.S. National Competition
(May 28, 2009 --Thunder Bay, ON)
Lakehead University's steel bridge team met with great success at the 18th Annual AISC/ASCE U.S. National Student Steel Bridge Competition hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Civil Engineering team at Lakehead took 3rd place for assembly time, 2nd place for construction economy, 10th for lightness, 3rd for display (aesthetics), 15th for stiffness, and 13th for structural efficiency - placing third overall in a competition among 47 American and Canadian universities. The Lakehead team placed first at the Mid-West Regional Competition hosted by North Dakota State University, Fargo, in mid-March.
The Student Steel Bridge Competition is the premiere event for American Civil Engineering students. The goal of the competition is to design a 1/10 scale model for replacement of a century-old bridge that crosses a river and emergent wetland. The bridge is designed and the components fabricated at the University by the students prior to the competition.
The models, approximately 20ft long, are erected under simulated field conditions, and then load tested. To test the strength and stiffness, one hundred 25lb lengths of angle iron are loaded onto the bridge to simulate a loaded truck crossing it, for a total applied load of 2500 lbs. The Lakehead team designed a flexible, fast-to-build bridge, weighing 144.2 lbs, and assembled in 3.78 minutes.
Lakehead's civil engineering teams have done consistently well at the national level, placing 10th in 2001, second in 2002, fifth in 2003 and 2006, and fourth in 2007. Lakehead's is the only Canadian team to place in the top five overall since the inception of the competition.
"The steel bridge team, which consists of students Gavin Clements, Frederic Lavoie, Jeffrey Luckai, Robert McDonald, and Jesse Zylstra, is grateful for the support of the many local and national sponsors who made participation possible at the regional and national competitions," says Faculty Advisor Dr. Timo Tikka. "The team has performed extremely well considering the quality of the competition, and have continued what is becoming a tradition at Lakehead University with their excellent standing in this competition."
First place went to SUNY Canton, and second place went to North Dakota State University.
Steel Bridge Team Sponsors
Canadian Ironworkers - Local 759
Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.
Lakehead University Faculty of Engineering
Professional Engineers of Ontario, Lakehead Chapter
Thunder Bay Testing & Engineering Ltd.
Lakehead University Student Union
Canadian Institute of Steel Construction
Steel Structures Education Foundation
Comstock Canada Ltd.
Engineering Student Society
Habib Architects
CSCE Student Chapter
Engineering Northwest Ltd.
Cook Engineering
Nor-Shore Ready Mix Concrete Products Ltd.
KGS Group
Trow Associates Inc.
Confederation College Welding Department
Superior Trailers Ltd.
Rudnicki Industrial Inc.
Lakehead University Technology Services
Coastal Steel Construction Ltd.
Twin City Fan Company Ltd. (Brookings, South Dakota)
Simulia (Abaqus)
JML Engineering Ltd.
Air Liquide Canada
Stantec Engineering Limited
-30-
Media: Dr. Timo Tikka and members of the steel bridge team are available for media interviews. For more information contact Lisa Pelot, Communications Officer, at 343-8177, or commun@lakeheadu.ca
About Lakehead
Lakehead is a comprehensive university with a reputation for innovative programs and cutting-edge research. With a main campus located in Thunder Bay, Ontario and a campus in Orillia, Ontario, Lakehead has over 7,900 students and 2,250 faculty and staff, and is home to the west campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. In 2006, Research Infosource Inc. named Lakehead University Canada's Research University of the Year in the undergraduate category. For more information on Lakehead University, visit www.lakeheadu.ca