Annual bridge building competition

Each year, first year Civil Engineering students have a project where they design, build and test a bridge.

They work in teams of 5 and the project comprises assignments across a term where they conceptualise, work out loads etc, design, make spaghetti models (using uncooked spaghetti and glue), build their bridge, test it over the Avon River that runs through campus, and lastly write a report on the bridges failure.

The bridge has to support 2 people but fail with the addition of a third person. The first person walks across the bridge to the other side and then back to the middle. The second person does the same.

In my image my cousin Lizzy is no 2 and has just turned around the head the middle of the bridge. Their third team mate is on the left edge.

Happily their bridge performed brilliantly and failed as it should have with person 3. I have a shot of that but my cousin is obscured by the boys and I like this shot with her in action.

Large for all those who want to see budding engineers up close

The University of Canterbury is the only university in the world that has a real bridge project like this for civil engineering students. They love it and it's one of the draw cards to studying civil at UC.