Student team captures third in steel bridge competition

A team of Penn State civil engineering students recently won third place overall in the 2002 National Steel Bridge Competition at the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus. The team also placed first in the lightness and structural efficiency categories with a truss design featuring dovetail connections. The annual competition pits teams of students from across the country against each other as they race to design, fabricate and construct a scale model steel bridge. The bridges must hold at least 2,500 pounds and the teams are judged on construction speed, lightness, aesthetics, stiffness, construction economics and structural efficiency. For the full story by Curtis Chan, visit