William Bryan searched the internet.
That was a no-brainer for the senior at Saint Leo University, who is majoring in cybersecurity.
But his search didn’t yield the answers he was seeking.
“I did look online, but it’s not as easy as going online and finding something because there is no right way to build a Popsicle stick bridge,” Bryan said. “Each competition has different parameters, from the amount of sticks you can use to specific dimensions.
“I really don’t know that much about engineering, but I knew that I needed triangles — and to get as much glue on the surface area as possible. The rest surprised me”
His biggest surprise, however, came in the way that he won Saint Leo University’s Ninth Annual Bridge-Building Competition on March 9.
In a record-breaking rout, his bridge — Bridge-It — held 98.3 pounds. He had expected his bridge would support about 40 pounds. When he shattered the record, spectators in Shelby Auditorium erupted with applause.
His bridge was among 10 in the contest, in which teams ranging from one to three members, sought to build the strongest possible bridge using only Elmer’s glue and no more than 200 standard Popsicle sticks.
The entries had to bridge a 1.2-meter span.
To test the strength, a bucket was hooked to the bottom of the bridge and contestants added bags of rocks until the span broke.
Bryan eventually ran out of rocks, so he placed a large heavy bucket on top of the bridge, which broke under the weight.
“When I was in middle school, there was a Popsicle (stick) bridge competition, but I wasn’t able to do it because I wasn’t invited,” said Bryan, who was accompanied by his wife, Jacquelyn.
“So this was a bit of redemption (laughs).”
Saint Leo has been hosting this competition for nearly a decade and it has always been open to all students, not just the ones who know more about physics, which is a requirement of biology majors. Many of those competing are biology majors.
Dr. Harsha Perera, assistant professor of physics and physical sciences in the College of Arts and Science, said that is part of the appeal of watching the competition.
“We even had someone from psychology sign up, so it’s for everyone. I believe this event sparked the enthusiasm for all the students regardless of their age or their major to learn engineering techniques on designing and building a bridge with the given material.”
For biology major Alex Keeler, she was just looking for a little fun during midterms.
She and her teammates, Juan Jimenez and Hannah Evers, dubbed their bridge, “Jahkeg” — their initials. It was named Most Aesthetically Pleasing.
“I’m not going to lie,” Keeler said. “The extra-credit component definitely played into (entering the competition). … But we know just the bare minimum of physics, so we also went with what we found on Google.”
Perera added the competition will remain open to the public, not just Saint Leo students.
“We would love for high school students or middle schoolers to come and try the competition, especially if they’re interested in physics,” she said. “We welcome the public, and hopefully one day they’ll take us up on it.
“We’re pretty sure they’ll enjoy it as much as our college students did.”
Published March 22, 2023
