In the News / Bohlen students win JCC bridge contest

students compete in bridge contest Facing competition from more than 30 high schools, Bohlen Technical Center Instructor Walter Berwick recently led students from his Computer-aided Design and Drafting classes to victory in the ninth annual Spaghetti Bridge Building Competition hosted by the Jefferson Community College Engineering Department.

Using only uncooked spaghetti and glue guns, the students had an hour and a half to construct a bridge that would be able to support a suspended load.

After the allotted time period, judges weighed the student-built spaghetti bridges and then measured the load each span could hold by using weights placed in a suspended bucket. Judges used the two figures to calculate a load-to-weight score for each bridge.

The Bohlen Technical Center students competed against 33 other high school teams from four counties. Mr. Berwick’s teams, consisting of both juniors and seniors, designed and constructed bridges that yielded them first and fourth place victories.

By competing in the contest, Mr. Berwick’s students not only learned about the engineering required to create and build a bridge, but also learned the invaluable skills required for effective teamwork. Given only a short amount of time to create a bridge out of brittle dry spaghetti, the students needed to work cooperatively and cohesively.