Bridges built for the Popsicle Bridge Competition on Engineering Day.
Could you build a model bridge using only 150 Popsicle sticks, one sheet of construction paper, and a bottle of white glue? And could you build it to withstand a load of over 400lbs?
That’s what at least one team of students did on Engineering Day, part of National Engineering and Geoscience Month. The Popsicle Bridge Competition was organized by the Burnaby/New Westminster Branch of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC (APEGBC) and held at the Burnaby Public Library.
Seventeen teams of elementary and secondary school students competed to build bridges that would support the highest load possible using common craft supplies.
This machine was used to test the load-bearing capacity of the model bridges.
The strongest bridge carried a total load of more than 400 lbs, which is very close to an all-time record.
The Burnaby/New Westminster Branch of APEGBC sponsored the gift cards for the winners, while BCIT’s Civil Engineering department sponsored four additional prizes for the winners in the strength-to-weight ratio category.
