The finals of the very successful annual AECOM-SAICE International Bridge Building Competition 2015 was held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Sandton, recently.

The finalists from South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, organised by the SAICE Branches countrywide, competed for the much sought after trophy in the form of a bridge and cash prizes for team members and their schools.

This year’s finalists came from as far afield as Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Dendron, Durban, Harrismith, Kimberley, Lusikisiki, Mahikeng, Middelburg, Pietermaritzburg, Queenstown, Richards Bay, Upington, as well as from Namibia (Karibib), Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

The bridge building

Each team consisted of three learners from Grades 8 to 12 and each tam receives a bridge building kit.  The bridge building kits contain 25 dowel sticks of 3mm thickness, glue and a piece of string.

Construction was done according to a technical briefing given on the day. The teams then got down to the gruelling business of planning, designing, measuring, cutting dowel sticks and constructing the bridge by gluing everything together to form sturdy bridge structures, while racing against the clock towards tools-down time.

The meticulously constructed bridges were then left to dry.  Once ready, the adjudicators completed their task regarding bridge aesthetics and mass.

Excitement mounted, hopes soared and some dreams were shattered as one team after the other brought their bridges forward for testing on the rigg.

The winners

The winners were ultimately determined by aspects such as aesthetics, the mass of the bridge and its weight-bearing capacity.

The Brackenfell High School team from Cape Town with team members Philip Kleynhans, Dewald Mouton and Niël Oosthuizen, won the competition with a bridge carrying 155.2 kg and an overall score of 229.7.

Harriston School from Harrismith in the second place was represented by Hugo Beuken, Suné Beuken and Kiara Bramley. Their bridge failed on 112 kg with an overall score of 174.

In the third position was the Grade 8-team, the youngest in the finals, with Jacob Allen, David Bosman and David Pop representing Domino Servite School near Pietermaritzburg.

They constructed a bridge that carried 80.1 kg and in total scored 144.5.