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Are you up to the challenge of designing a Are you up to the challenge of designing a bridge? Can your design resist an earthquake?

The competition is intended for undergraduate engineering students in four and two year colleges. A team will have a maximum of five members and a minimum of two members. A faculty advisor is required to enter the competition.  Only one team per school will be permitted to enter the competition.

A bridge is to be constructed as part of a new highway system to enhance the transportation network in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The objective is to design the safest bridge using the least amount of material possible and constructed in the minimum time.  The new bridge is an essential element of the lifeline system used to assist the Bay Area in the event of an earthquake.  For this reason, the bridge must withstand a combination of static and earthquake loads with minimal damage.  In addition, the bridge should be constructed in the minimum time possible to reduce costs and disruption to the Bay Area population.

Your team is required to submit a poster documenting your scaled bridge design by March 31, 2013. The posters will be judged by a team of experts, and the top five teams will be invited to test their scaled bridge designs on an earthquake simulator at the 7th National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways in Oakland, California, May 20-22, 2013.

Competition Objective

The objective of the competition is to generate seismic hazard awareness and interest in earthquake engineering and bridge design among civil engineering undergraduate students.

How to Enter

First, read the competition rules by clicking the link to the left for a PDF formatted version of the document.  Next, put your team together and find a faculty advisor who is willing to mentor your group.  You may then register for the competition using the "Registration" link at the left. A NEEShub account is required for registration.  If you do not yet have a free NEEShub account, click here to sign up for one.

Tools

The NEEShub provides free tools that may help you design your bridge and simulate loads.  At the left you will find links to SAP2000 (student version) and the PocketStatics Analysis Tool.  You can run these tools in a web browser using Hub technology.

• SAP2000: From a simple small 2D static frame analysis to a large complex 3D nonlinear dynamic analysis, SAP2000 is the easiest, most productive solution for your structural analysis and design needs. Some of the functions that can be performed are Modeling, Analysis. Loading and Design.
• PocketStatics Analysis Tool: PocketStatics is very interactive and simulates to a great degree working with an engineering pad and a pencil. Toolbars are very intuitive. The structure to be analyzed can be sketched on the screen simply using the stylus (or a mouse). The program automatically computes and displays results in real-time whenever any changes are made to the structure. This real-time update feature sets PocketStatics apart from other typical structural analysis software.

You may find other NEEShub tools useful as well.  Have a look at the Tools browser to see what is available.