Bridge-builders headed to nationals
Matthew Martell
Issue: 5/7/08 Section: News
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Seattle U's bridge building team was born out of a desire "to gain applicable knowledge you don't learn in any class room," according to team member and co-captain Ed DeBroeck.
The ASCE/AISC Student Bridge Building Competition has been around for 16 years, but 2008 marks the first time Seattle U has had a team participate in the competition.
Team members noted the intense amount of work involved in assembling the bridges.
"We've logged about 1,000 man hours, and we started keeping track late in the game, so that's probably about half of what we actually put into the bridge," said Ryan Daudistel, a senior civil engineering major and captain of the bridge building team, of the 20 foot-long structure. "The typical engineer makes around $30 an hour, so you get a sense of how much it 'cost' us."
The material dividends for the massive amount of work the team has invested in their project are actually in the negative-the project cost the team more money than they would win as part of the largest prize in the contest.
"The grand prize is $1,000, and it is going to cost us $6,000 to get to nationals, so it's not really about the prize," said Daudistel.
The Steel Bridge Competition is a nationally-recognized event. "When you put it on your resume, it will often catch the eye of your interviewer," said Mike Shattuck, a sophomore civil engineering major on the team. "It gets your foot in the door; it shows you have commitment in the field."
Despite being newly established, Seattle U's team has already outshone a majority of their competition. Two weeks ago, the team trekked down to Portland, Ore. to attend the regional competition, clinching the contest's structural efficiency and stiffness categories and taking 2nd overall.
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