Mar 12 2008
Destructive testing of model bridges will provide a great photo opportunity as Suffolk County high school students compete in the 2008 BNL Model Bridge Contest. The event is closed to the general public because of space limitations. All visitors to the Laboratory age 16 and over must bring a photo ID.
WHEN: Saturday, March 15, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Berkner Hall, Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Lab is located on William Floyd Parkway (County Road 46), one-and-a-half miles north of Exit 68 of the Long Island Expressway.
DETAILS: Over 150 high school students from 13 schools in Suffolk County have entered the 2008 Model Bridge Contest. (Below is a list of participating schools.) The students designed and constructed model bridges according to certain size and weight specifications, with the goal being to build the lightest bridge that supports the most weight. Materials were restricted to basswood and glue.
Brookhaven engineers will test the bridges by determining how well they remain intact under the pressure of a machine called a stress tester. The bridges are required to be no longer than 400 millimeters, no taller than 200 millimeters, no wider than 80 millimeters, and weigh no more than 25 grams. Some are very intricate and attractive. The contrast between the delicate basswood bridges and the equipment used to test them provides excellent visuals.
The first- and second-prize winners will be eligible to enter the 2008 International Bridge Building Contest, which will be held in Chicago, Illinois, on April 26.
Schools Entered in the 2008 BNL Model Bridge Contest:
- Brentwood High School
- Center Moriches High School
- Commack High School
- Comsewogue High School
- Earl L. Vandermeulen High School
- Elwood-John H. Glenn High School
- Hauppauge High School
- Huntington High School
- Islip High School
- Patchogue-Medford High School
- Walt Whitman High School
- Ward Melville High School
- Westhampton Beach High School