NZstudents seek win in Aurecon bridge building competition

24 July 2012

New Zealand students seek win in Aurecon bridge building competition

170 students from 26 New Zealand schools are putting their maths and science skills to the test, in a Trans-Tasman bridge building competition for high schools, organised by engineering and project management company Aurecon.

New Zealand and Australia’s only bridge building competition for high schools kicks off again in August. Students from local high schools across the Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury regions will be vying against other school teams from across Australia to be named the winners of their region. The best regional score from across New Zealand and Australia is then announced the Trans-Tasman winner.

Using materials of balsa wood, string, cardboard and glue and guidelines supplied by Aurecon, year 9 and 10 students design and build model bridges in teams of three. The built bridges will be tested to destruction at judging days across New Zealand and Australia during the first weeks of August to see which one holds the greatest load. Bridge design experts from Aurecon and its clients assess the bridges for workmanship, creativity and visual appeal to determine the overall score.

Ian Sloane, Transport Leader, said the competition was created to inspire and challenge students to think laterally and solve a specific problem using their maths and science skills and then translating those skills into real life engineering and technical scenarios.

“Engineering is a key industry across the world. We want to encourage the next generation of engineers and beyond, by sparking a greater interest in science and maths electives in high school students to address the growing skills shortage in our industry and other technical professions.”

Last year’s Trans-Tasman winner was first-time entrant King’s College from Auckland, whose bridge held a massive load of 128kg.

About the Aurecon Bridge Building Competition

Prizes are:
• Trans-Tasman award winner: $1500 (school), $200 (each student)
• Region award winner: $1500 (school), $200 (each student)

Sponsors include: New Zealand Transport Agency and HEB Construction Limited.

Each of the bridges entered are constructed during school hours from materials supplied by Aurecon: 8 balsa wood sticks 6.5mm x 6.5mm x 580mm long; 8 balsa wood sticks 6.5mm x 6.5mm x 335mm long; 1 cardboard tube 60d x 60l (mm); 1 tube of quick drying epoxy glue and 1 piece of 5m long string.

The competition complements Aurecon’s efforts to promote the engineering profession to secondary school students.

View footage of last year’s competitions in Sydney and Brisbane.

Visit the website www.aurecongroup.com/buildingbridges for further details.

Key dates

2 August 2012: Wellington, Te Papa Museum
7 August 2012: Christchurch, Addington Raceway
10 August 2012: Auckland, Auckland Museum

About Aurecon

Aurecon provides engineering, management and specialist technical services for government and private sector clients globally. The group, with an office network extending across 25 countries, has been involved in projects in more than 80 countries across Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and employs around 7 000 people across 11 industry groups:
• Construction
• Data & telecommunications
• Defence
• Energy
• Government
• International development assistance
• Manufacturing
• Property
• Resources
• Transport
• Water

Please visit www.aurecongroup.com for further information.

ENDS

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