The Alaska Contractor - Summer 2008

Steel bridge
team wins
regional
competition
BY HEATHER A. RESZ
The University of Alaska Fairbanks steel bridge team
finished first in the 2008 ASCE/AISC regional Student
Steel Bridge competition at the American Society
of Civil Engineers Pacific Northwest Conference at
Portland State University.
The team also finished eighth among 41 teams that competed
in the 2008 National Student Steel Bridge Competition
May 23-24 at the University of Florida – Gainesville,
according to team member Jacob Horazdovsky. He also is
the vice president of the student chapter of the Associated
General Contractors of Alaska at UAF.
“It was a blast,” Horazdovsky said of his experience
competing.
Jennifer M. Towler, Fairbanks branch manager of AGC of
Alaska, said AGC contributed funding support for the team
to compete at the regional and national levels.
“We are awfully proud of our local chapter and they always
seem to do well,” she said.
The six-member team was among 16 teams from universities
across the Pacific Northwest competing in the annual
regional contest, which requires students to design and build
a 20-foot steel bridge capable of supporting 2,500 pounds,
according to a UAF press release announcing the team’s win
at the regional contest.
Competition rules require teams to follow a set of complicated
rules for the bridge’s design and assembly. Teams are
then judged on how quickly they can assemble their bridge,
as well as the aesthetics of the structure and its construction
economy, lightness, stiffness and structural efficiency,
according to the press release.
Team adviser and engineering professor Leroy Hulsey
said class members who make up the team began design on
the bridge this spring semester.
“They did the bulk of construction over spring break,”
he said.
Some team members put in up to 40 to 50 hours a week
on this one class, Hulsey said.
“Most team members put in many hours beyond what is
required for a three-credit class,” he said. “It’s not a trivial task.”
UAF teams have proven tough competitors at the regional
and national levels of this contest since 1992, including winning
the national competition in 1993 and 1996 and finishing
fourth in the nation in 1995. In 1998 the team’s steel bridge
design also was used to obtain a provisional patent.
Members of the UAF steel bridge team pose with their winning bridge
at the 2008 regional student steel bridge competition in Portland, Ore.
Pictured, top row, from left, is Larry Mosley, Jonathan Hutchison, team
adviser Leroy Hulsey, Nick Belmont and Ricky Pitts; and front row,
from left, Jacob Horazdovsky and Elliot Wilson.
Following are the team’s regional and national scores:
Regional
• Construction Speed 5th
• Lightness 1st
• Aesthetics 2nd
• Stiffness 3rd
• Economy 1st
• Efficiency 2nd
• Overall 1st
National
• Construction Speed 11th
• Lightness 8th
• Display 5th
• Stiffness 21st
• Economy 9th
• Efficiency 12th
• Overall 8th
In 2003 and 2005, teams from UAF won the regional competition
and took sixth place at the national level both years.
Last year students sacrificed a year of competition to plan
and host the 2007 ASCE/AISC Pacific Northwest Regional
Student Conference and Student Steel Bridge Competition.
They added a special Alaska event: A concrete snowshoe
race where teams competed for the fastest time through a
course in their concrete shoes.
For more information about the UAF steel bridge building
team visit www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/cee/.
Senior editor Heather A. Resz is a writer who lives in the
Wasilla area.