Aurecon's 2010 Bridge Building Competition

Schools from Victoria, South Australian and New South Wales will be building bridges as part of Aurecon’s interstate 2010 Bridge Building Competition on 3rd and 4^th August 2010.

Each school’s bridge will be tested to its limits during the competition. Judges will be awarding points for visual appeal, creativity, workmanship and the actual weight that the bridge can sustain before collapsing.

The competition run by Aurecon, a consulting engineering firm, offers students the chance to win both a prize for their school and team members. Open to Year 8 and 9 students, teams have been asked to design and construct a model bridge with the capacity to be load –bearing.

John de Araugo, Aurecon Executive and veteran bridge designer explained: “The Aurecon 2010 Bridge Building Competition has been created to inspire and challenge students to think laterally and solve a specific problem using engineering and technical skills. It is also a lot of fun!

“This year we have 417 students participating, with 139 teams from 107 schools around Australia taking part in this competition.”

Aurecon organises this event in NSW, Vic and SA on an annual basis and has plans to take it national.

“We believe this event encourages students to take up STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). It’s a great opportunity for secondary school students to gain an understanding of the engineering profession before they choose their electives for the Higher School Certificate,” said John.

Bill Cox, Aurecon’s General Manager for Transport (Asia Pacific) agreed and said: "By encouraging the youth of today, we are investing in the engineers of tomorrow. This competition is great fun and our engineers love working with students and are often delighted by the standards of innovation and design we see during the event. "

http://www.conwag.com/buildingBridges/

AURECON 2010 BRIDGE BUILDING COMPETITION

When?
Tuesday 3 August ,Art Gallery of South Australia,North Terrace, Adelaide, 5000
Wednesday 4 August, Scienceworks Museum, 2 Booker Street, Spotswood, Vic 3015
Wednesday 4 August, Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, NSW 2000

Please see www.aurecongroup.com/buildingbridges for more information. The competition is run in a range of jurisdictions and compliments the firm’s efforts to promote the engineering profession to secondary school students.

Australian sponsors include:
VIC: VicRoads, Engineers Australia (Victoria Division), Scienceworks
SA: Engineers Australia (South Australia Division), Department for Transport, Energy & Infrastructure
NSW/ACT: Engineers Australia (Sydney Division)

To view on youtube go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2bYjcQMr8U