by Jack Lee
Chico State’s Engineering Dept. in conjunction with the American Society of Civil Engineers hosted the annual “popsicle stick” bridge building competition. Students from the physics classes at both Pleasant Valley and Chico High went head to head to see who could make the strongest bridge design within a certain size and weight limit using only white glue and popsicle sticks.
Shown at top left is Grant Page, age 18, a senior at Pleasant Valley and a soon to be cadet at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Grant plans to continue engineering studies at the naval academy.
Shown at the far right are PV seniors Miles Satterfield and Eric Crawford, ages 17 and 18 respectively,
Their bridge finally failed at 108 pounds. Miles grins as he surveys the damage. Next is, La Lor, 17, (bottom) also from PV. La shows off his fancy arched bridge which was one of the top place finishers. La is also a senior at Pleasant Valley.
We were told the winner of the contest was a classic railroad style bridge that supported a whopping 340 lbs. This bridge broke the previous record of 314 lbs. The competition was held in the Engineering Wing at Chico State today between 0900- 1200. Each contestant received a free tee shirt from the American Society of Civil Engineers.