Bradley University’s Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Balsa Wood Bridge Building Competition is Saturday at Northwoods Mall in Peoria.
Under the supervision of Chillicothe Elementary Center science teacher Elizabeth Sullivan, six local teams will put their bridge designs to the test against junior high and high school teams from throughout Central Illinois.
After Seth Kirchner and JR Rebholz’s bridge took eighth place of 92 competitors last year, the Chillicothe teams have high hopes for the competition.
Now in its 19th year, the purpose of the program is to foster an interest in engineering by asking students to design and build a bridge out of balsa wood and glue.
The ultimate goal is to see how much weight the bridge they build can support.
Twenty-one students, including one group who are now freshmen at Illinois Valley Central High School, are participating and, since November, have been working in teams to design and build their bridges.
Each team is assigned a Bradley University engineering student as a Bradley Pal to help the team organize, design, analyze and construct their bridge for the final competition.
Designs will be put to the test Saturday on a structure where three rods are attached to the bridge and weighed down by a pulley system.
Lead shot is added to the attached bucket to see how much weight the bridge can support before collapse.
The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the court in front of JC Penney, and the public is invited to observe.
Chillicothe teams are numbered 28 to 32 and will likely begin their weigh-ins about 11 a.m.
Students participating include: Team 28 — Elijah Repke, Caitlin Duhs, Damen Cokel; Team 29 — Colton Colwell, Nolan Wiedeman, Ben Ransom, Jacob Dunbar; Team 30 — Jacob Murphy, Ian Anderson, AJ Endres, Josh Lew; Team 31 — Rae Chambers, Kaylee White, Shelbie Fritzinger; Team 32 — Seth Kirchner, Ben Hudson, Connor Bogner (IVC High School); Team 33 — Ethan McClausland, Damian Heimsoth, Kolton Sidwell, Travis Spencer.
