Teens fill Cape theater to see their model bridges broken

Crowds munching on popcorn and nachos filled Cape West 14 Cine on Thursday, but they weren't there for a movie. The high school juniors and seniors were watching the model bridges they built be destroyed.

Twenty-six schools attended the annual Missouri Department of Transportation bridge competition this year.

Made out of balsa wood, thread and glue, the foot-long bridges the students had spent weeks researching, designing and constructing were being tested for efficiency. A wooden car was placed on the bridge, balanced on two platforms. Suspended below the bridge was a bucket; water was pumped into the bucket until the bridge either collapsed or snapped. The goal was to have built the lightest bridge that could hold the most weight.

"It gets very competitive," said Clayton Cox, an industrial arts teacher at Ste. Genevieve High School. Cox has watched the event grow from having fewer than 30 entries when the program began four years ago to 194 this year.

That includes 28 students from Dexter, 18 from Chaffee, nine from Saxony Lutheran High School and handfuls of students from Notre Dame Regional High School, Oak Ridge, Marble Hill and Scott City.

No students from Cape Gir?ardeau or Jackson public schools participated, although MoDOT spokeswoman Tonya Wells said materials were free and delivered to schools.

Students spent two to three weeks on the project in Cox's class. Cox has even rewritten the curriculum to include the bridge-building project. "That's the first thing kids ask me, is if we're going to build a bridge," he said.

In Jaron McMurry's industrial arts class at Chaffee, students studied actual bridges, used an Internet site to identify types of stresses placed on bridges and made models using a computer drafting program.

Walker Rice learned a triangle or arch model typically works the best. "All the pressure goes on three points," the Chaffee senior explained. An arch model could be made by soaking the wood in water, classmate Cassie McClellan said.

The project incorporates many subjects, Dexter teacher Jeff Brasser said, including math, science, engineering, computer-aided design and even English.

"I've got my engineering kids writing papers" about their findings, Cox said.

Prize money was awarded to top students and schools. Garrett Kemper of Ste. Genevieve High School won for his bridge being most efficient; it weighed 23.47 grams and held 72 pounds. Ste. Genevieve, Chaffee and Saxony Lutheran won first, second and third, respectively.

Top finishers may qualify for civil engineering college scholarships.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

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