Bridging the competition

The "suspension" is over -- Clemson University took top honors at the 10th annual National Student Steel Bridge Competition. More than 400 civil engineering students from 43 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada took part in the event, held this year at Clemson's Madren Conference Center.

Clemson's winning bridge, a 184-pound, 23-foot orange and blue beauty, was able to hold almost 14 times its weight. Bridges were required to hold 2,500 pounds, roughly the weight of a Volkswagen Beetle.

The construction team of four students built the bridge in 1.77 minutes, but designing those perfect spans took nearly a year. The Clemson team invested about 600 hours in design and fabrication and an additional 300 hours in practice.

"This competition literally, bridges the gap between what we learn in class and what it takes to work in the real world - from construction and design to getting along with people and knowing how to manage our crew," said Clemson team captain Scot Robinett.