PCC Engineering Comp. 2003

Unfortunately I procrastinated too long on building this page. I have now lost most of my notes on this competition. I will explain the broad details here, and if I every find my notes will try and fill in the details.

The Competition

The competition this year was to build a draw bridge. The bridge had to be 5 feet long and a foot wide (approximately). When raised high enough to allow a certain sized object to pass (I think it was a foot square). The bridges would be compated by their strength to weight ratio. Each bridge was crushed in a machine used to test the strength of metal components. The machine measured the total force the bridge supported before suffering "catastrophic" failure.

The Team

Our team started out with the same core members as the previous year: Charlie, Jayson, and Daniel. We added Josh to the team as well.

The Competitors

Four teams entered the competition, but one did not complete their bridge on time. All four teams built solid bridges and raised the entire bridge.

The Results

The second team's bridge was very strong, but was so heavy it was not really much competition. The first team's bridge did exceptionaly well. Our bridge did not hold as much weight as the first team's bridge, but it was lighter and so it won the competition.

It should be noted that the fourth team did test the strength of their arches. Their arches were very weak, but also very light. The results of the test showed that had they completed their bridge it may have won the competition.