There were many remarkable, logical and creative bridges constructed during this year’s popsicle stick bridge building contest that Teck put on in partnership with the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. This contest kicked off prior to Mining Week (May 8 to 14) and concluded on June 20. Overall, there was excellent participation in Fernie, Elkford and the Crowsnest Pass. The kids built 230 bridges and the kids did online research, drew plans for their bridges and created some truly wonderful structures.
Rocky Mountain Elementary Grade 4 student, Chase Thomas, built the strongest bridge of all 230 bridges. His was a triangular structure that bore 131.16 kg and achieved 5/5 on the principles of visual design for a total score of 136.16.
Emily Dykhuisen, a Grades 5/6 student at Isabella Dicken Elementary School built two excellent structures. Her arch bridge bore 104.93 kg and achieved 5/5 on the principles of visual design, yielding a total score of 109.93. That bridge was the second strongest of all the bridges.
For Teck, this was a great opportunity to talk to the kids about basic steelmaking coal knowledge and share information about engineering as a profession that is locally available to them. Several of Teck’s professional engineers and engineering co-op students shared career information and inspiration with the classes—as well as giving practical advice on how to construct the strongest bridges.
All kids got Silly Bandz for participating, with the Justin Bieber edition being most ardently coveted amongst tweens. Winners from each class were awarded a $20 gift certificate from HMV so they could download music, movies or games.
By Joni Krats
Teck Coal