The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) recently held its yearly SAICE International Bridge Building competition at the Midrand Conference Centre in Gauteng. Twelve schools participated in the grand finale, which saw great, young minds from South Africa and Eswatini showcase talent, team work, innovation and design.
Memory Scheepers, Project Manager – Special Projects at SAICE, explained that the bridge budling competition showcases an event in which both the theory and the practice of civil engineering has to come together to enable the students to succeed. “The bridge building teams consist of three learners each. They build model bridges from dowel sticks, glue and string, according to a technical briefing. This event then culminates in a bridge testing ceremony to determine the winners.”
Oliver Rowe from SAICE explained that this year's adjudication team consisted of 7 engineers, all with a structural engineering background. The adjudicators followed a four-stage judging process, where three stages focused on the bridge design. This included compression, tension, and correctness in terms of the rules provided to the students at the start of the competition, and included minimum height, length, and width requirements. And the final adjudication stage focused on the bridge's aesthetics.
He added: "The main aim of the bridge building competition is to test the load that each individual bridge can handle. At the end of the competition, the teams had to endure a very stressful period, where their bridges were put through a loading apparatus that piles load stress onto the bridge until the breaking point, or the bridge's ultimate limit state. After that, this figure is added to the scores from the previous adjudication rounds, and that's how the final scores are determined."
This year's competing schools included:
- Fairvale Secondary School - Durban
- Hoërskool Diamantveld - Kimberley
- Boitumelong Senior Secondary School - Johannesburg
- Mamolemane Secondary School - Seshego
- Hoërskool Oosterland - Secunda
- Sarel Cilliers High School - Glencoe
- Brackenfell High School – Cape Town
- Hoërskool Jim Fouché - Bloemfontein
- Domino Servite School - Pietermaritzburg
- Die Hoërskool Menlopark - Pretoria
- Mkhuzweni High School - Eswatini
- Thohoyandou Technical High School - Thohoyandou
Brackenfell High School were the winners of this year’s International Bridge Building Competition. Their team comprised Philip Loubser, Sebastian Hahn, and Anthony Oosthuizen. The weight of the bridge was 131.7g and the carry weight was 164.1kg
Hoërskool Jim Fouché followed in second place with team members Yvé Kriel, Mieke Swarts, and Lourens van Niekerk. The weight of the bridge was 106.4g and the carry weight was 76.5kg
In third place was Fairvale Secondary School represented by Jamie-Lynn Marnce, Taliyah Goldstone, and Aeden Barlow. The weight of the bridge was 108.6g and the carry weight was 58.3kg.
Tom Mckune, Head of Training at SAICE, congratulated all of the students for making it to the finals. He also highlighted SAICE’s appreciation to the sponsors of the competition to enable a successful event of such scale. This included WBHO, BVi Form-Scaff / Waco Engineering Services, RiChem and NRF-SAASTA.
The Importance of the Bridge Building Competition
Marie Ashpole, who has been involved in the SAICE Bridge Building Competition for many years, adds that during the competition, students experience all the challenges that any engineer would typically face, such as testing the sizing, joints, and capacities of each bridge. “One of the critical aims of the competition is to inspire young children to follow civil engineering as a profession. We have many infrastructure challenges in South Africa, and our civil engineers are the present and the future to help solve the challenges we face.”
The SAICE Bridge Building competition has been a catalyst for many students to pursue a career in civil engineering. Throughout the years, many qualified engineers have indicated that their first exposure to civil engineering was through the SAICE Bridge Building Competition.
Owing to the practical and hands-on nature, this event is SAICE’s most successful initiative in attracting learners from previously disadvantaged rural schools, previous model C schools and private schools to civil engineering, as well as promoting a general awareness of the profession. This competition provides a career guidance opportunity and also provides pupils with the chance to build bridges between people.
Scheepers added: “This competition has a life-changing impact on students and the communities in which they live. The purpose of the initiative reaches all of South Africa, including rural areas, and highlights the importance of the civil engineering profession in developing infrastructure to enable a better life for future generations.”
She explained that with a deep focus on schools located in rural areas, the aim is to provide the necessary exposure to civil engineering as a profession. “This is important so that when students decide to choose a career as a civil engineering professional, they can hopefully return to their homesteads and contribute to their communities, and also better understand the practical improvements they or other civil engineers can or have made."