In April, fourteen members of the CEE Steel Bridge Team traveled
to Pullman, Washington for the regional competition. After 3000 person-hours of
dedication over the 2009-2010 academic year, the team was disqualified along
with seven other teams in the 15-team field after the bridge failed the lateral
loading test. The irony of being DQ'd on the lateral load test was not lost on
the team that had the stiffest bridge in the nation last year and
the second stiffest in 2008.
This year's objective was to win the "Overall" category
by having the lightest and most economical bridge. The bridge passed the
lateral load test on campus, but when it was performed "differently"
during the competition, the day was over. Had they passed the test, the team
would have had the lightest bridge in the competition (by 25 percent) and the
most economical (by 50 percent). Despite the loss, the team had fun at
the competition which included the Old Fashioned Surveying Competition where
teams surveyed distances without the use of today's modern equipment. SU
seniors Dylan Parker, Michael Shattuck and Brian Olmsted (pictured below) placed
placed fifth and embodied the spirit of the day with their early 20th century
costumes.
