Judging of the 250 entries in the 2016 Aurecon Bridge Building Competition has begun, with the first of eight judging events around the country commencing today at the Adelaide Judging Day of entries from 13 schools at the Art Gallery of SA.
The Aurecon Bridge Building Competition helps some 1,000 Year 8 and Year 9 High School students bring their ideas to life by encouraging them to develop their understanding of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) by building a bridge using icy pole sticks, string, glue and cardboard.
Judging days are being held throughout late July and August in Gladstone, Mackay, Darwin, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne (as well as in Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand), and local winners announced in each region.
The competition not only provides students with a bridge engineering challenge to solve, but also provides the avenue of feedback from expert judges. The battle for the cash prizes will be played out in front of all local participating schools at each judging location, with the spectacle of seeing the bridges load-tested to destruction.
STEM subjects are the building blocks for the inquisitive, adventurous and inventive to make engineering and technology work, but are also considered to be an important building block for the future of the Australian economy.
According to Australia’s Chief Scientist, advances in the physical, mathematical and biological sciences in the past 20 to 30 years has underpinned $330 billion a year of Australia’s economic output. STEM employees have also been found to be some of the most innovative workers, and their skills in active learning and critical thinking are highly valued. However, employers have reported difficulty in recruiting STEM qualified staff.
“Aurecon believes that by enabling students to get hands on and learn the basic principles of engineering, our global engineering organisation is helping to proactively develop Australia’s next generation of engineers,” said Mr William Cox, Aurecon’s Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand.
“Engineering is a great career choice for the youth of today offering a strong likelihood of employment in a diverse range of fields,” he said. “Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda website, for example, estimates that within the next decade approximately 75 per cent of jobs in the fastest-growing industries will demand science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).”
Bridge and structural engineering experts from Aurecon and competition supporters have been appointed as judges to assess each bridge for workmanship, creativity, visual appeal and functionality to determine an overall score. New prizes for award categories have been added to the competition in 2016 for an all-rounhttp://www.aurecongroup.com/buildingbridgesd, innovation, efficiency and strength awards.
New building materials, testing and scoring mechanisms and award categories are a few of the clever innovations that a group of Monash University engineering students designed for this year’s competition.
Winners in each region are announced on the day after the testing of all bridges has been completed and scores tallied.
About bridge design
Aurecon’s Bridges Expertise Leader John Hilton provides some background on how temporary bridge works can be improved to reduce the risk of collapse, in this on-line video: http://www.aurecongroup.com/en/thinking/thinking-papers/how-safe-bridge.aspx.
www.aurecongroup.com/buildingbridges
Acknowledgements
Aurecon would like to acknowledge the support of the following organisations in the running of the 2016 Aurecon Bridge Building Competition:
About Aurecon
Aurecon brings ideas to life to design a better future. Imagining what is possible, we turn problems into solutions. We provide advisory, design, delivery and asset management services on projects across a range of markets, in locations worldwide. These services include:
Understanding the value of expertise, we mobilise our global pool of talent to understand and solve the critical and complex problems you face. We seek to unravel complexity, create clarity and invent new value for you. We use our thinking to provide innovative solutions.
We bring ideas to life by partnering with you and using our innovation and expertise, with technology, to solve your complex problems. To find out more about what we have been up to visit our newsroom, or take a glimpse into the future on our Just Imagine blog.
Privately owned by employees, Aurecon formed in 2009 when Africon, Connell Wagner and Ninham Shand announced the formation of a new global group. Please visit www.aurecongroup.com for further information.
