After taking first place at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Virginia Conference earlier this spring, the Virginia Tech ASCE Steel Bridge Team represented the region for the 2009 Steel Bridge National Competition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Held on May 22-23, the Virginia Tech team placed fourth overall.

Each student team is judged on six categories that lead to a total aggregate score. Of these six categories, the Virginia Tech team finished second in bridge lightness and efficiency, and scored in the top 10 in three other categories.

Officials and participants alike agreed that this year’s competition was tight. “It takes a great deal of skill and some luck to win this competition. Anyone in the top five could have won with a minor adjustment in one of the scoring categories,” said Dr. Finley Charney, one of the ASCE faculty advisors who accompanied the team to Las Vegas. “The professionalism and dedication that our team displayed in this extremely challenging competition was simply amazing.”

The National fourth place finish for the Virginia Tech Steel Bridge Team was the best in recent history and a nine place improvement over last year’s 13th place finish.

This year marked the 18th anniversary of the National Student Steel Bridge Competition, which is co-sponsored by ASCE and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). This prestigious competition offers future structural engineers the opportunity to display their skills in steel design, steel fabrication, and teamwork. Forty-six student teams from across the country participated in the 2009 NSSBC. For more information, please visit http://www.aisc.org/content.aspx?id=780.