Dear Bridge Diary
(6/27/12) – It’s been a month now since nationals, so we’ve had sufficient time to reminisce….great drive through the Smoky Mountains, perfect weather in South Carolina, beautiful campus at Clemson, delicious food (mmm BBQ buffet and ice cream sundae buffet), and last but not least, Frankie’s Fun Park. On top of all the fun we had, we consider it a successful trip as well – it felt great to finish in the overall top ten and to place in the top three in one of the award categories. This year was full of challenges and failed load tests, but in the end we grew closer together as a team and put together a spectacular final product. We can’t thank our sponsors and team supporters enough, without whom this experience would not have been possible. And now it’s back to the drawing board…..we’re hungry for more hardware next year and hope to bring a highly competitive bridge to the other udub, in Seattle, WA.
(3/28/12) – After experiencing our fair share of stresses during the load tests, we are feeling confident about our chances in Peoria. With spring break upon us next week, we are excited for our luxurious trip to the structures lab to make many final adjustments and to get re-acquainted with our favorite buffing pads. We’re also sitting on pins and needles waiting for our shipment of 2012 official steel bridge t-shirts. During this exciting time of the bridge season, don’t forget to follow us on twitter for updates:
(2/16/12) – Faster, faster, faster – construction practices are filling our schedules as we seek a speedy time. It’s also that time of year when we spend our Saturday afternoons in the structures lab making adjustments here and there. Two months until regionals, but time is still of the essence……
(1/23/12) – It’s the first day of the spring semester and there is much to catch up on since our last post…..The fall semester concluded with many hours of successful connection fabrication in the COE shop and hopefully a phenomenal finals week for all. We would like to thank Endres Manufacturing for a fantastic week of fabrication over winter break – Mike Bush is truly our hero. Although we still can’t decide which was better – the Chinese buffet or the pizza buffet. As the semester begins, we are looking forward to construction practices, load tests, and our trip to Peoria, IL for the regional competition.
(11/1/11) – A good Halloween for the Steel Bridge Team concluded with some tough decisions about the general geometry of this year’s bridge. Our connection steel is in the mail, so it’s time to get our hands dirty in the shop. We’re also ready to move on and do some design in order to conquer the ghost of competitions past….the lateral load test.
(10/18/11) – The design train keeps rolling along…we’re feeling very close to a final general design, what remains is figuring out all the little details. It’s an exciting time for steel bridge: we have a large group of members working on getting access to the shop so we can start working on connection fabrication, and this Friday is our tour of Endres Manufacturing, which many of us are excited about. Before the design can make much more progress, it’s time to go to the grocery store to replenish our supply of Tootsie Roll Pops, one of our key team contributors!
(9/13/11) – After our fall semester kickoff meeting last night, we really feel like bridge season is in full swing. It was good to see some new faces at the meeting, and we’re excited for what this year will bring. We have a few designs that we’re working on, but it’s hard not to be distracted right now by the amazing play of our football team. Go Bucky!
(8/11/11) – Hello, again. Well last year did not end as we had hoped. The lateral load at nationals was not what we were expecting and the result was a quick exit. But after the summer off, it is time to get going and begin the next design as the new rules are out again. After last year, we are eager to get the ball rolling again. Well, right now it is time to get to the important work…