Engineering Students Design, Fabricate, and Build Real Steel Bridges
CHICAGO – Clear Creek in Golden, Colo., needs a new steel pedestrian bridge—and the hypothetical owners are turning to students at colleges and universities to make it happen! That’s the challenge the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers have set for the 2027 Student Steel Bridge Competition . To solve it, the students must design a bridge, analyze and optimize their design, then fabricate a 1:10 scale version in steel so it can be constructed and tested in real life. They’ll have to tackle the same challenges a real engineer would in this situation as they figure out how to provide clearance for kayaking and other river recreation, stay within limited construction zones, build without piers, and remotely stage materials and equipment—all while balancing strength, stability, aesthetics, construction time, and cost. Teams of student engineers will face off in regional competitions across North America in t...