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Contact: Jason Marton
jason.marton@tamuk.edu or 361-593-4143

A.S.C.E. Student Chapter earned second place in regional steel bridge competition, prepare for national competition at Salt Lake City

KINGSVILLE (February 1, 2006) — The student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at Texas A&M University-Kingsville hosted the 2006 Student Steel Bridge Texas-Mexico Regional Competition on Saturday, Jan. 14. By the end of the day, the A&M-Kingsville team was named second overall, making them eligible to compete in the national contest to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah in May.

The regional competition is an annual joint event between ASCE and the American Institute of Steel Construction Inc. (AISC) in which students design, fabricate and construct a steel bridge measuring approximately 21 feet long. The smaller scale bridge is made based on the regulations that govern the design and construction of full-scale bridges. Criteria for excellence are represented by the award categories of stiffness, lightness, construction speed, aesthetics, structural efficiency, construction economy and overall ranking. The top three teams in the regional competition move on to compete in the national competition.

This year, those top three teams were Texas A&M University, Texas A&M-Kingsville and the University of Texas at Austin. This marks the third year in a row that Texas A&M-Kingsville’s ASCE student chapter has placed among the top two overall.

In addition to the second place overall ranking, A&M-Kingsville’s team also ranked first in construction speed and construction economy, and third in lightness and aesthetics.

Thomas Tiffin, a senior civil engineering major from Victoria, served as the Texas A&M-Kingsville Host Committee Chairman of the regional contest.

Eleven schools from Texas and Mexico competed at the event, but two were disqualified from competition, leaving nine eligible for awards. They were:

Lamar University; Texas A&M University; Texas A&M University-Kingsville; Texas Tech University; Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico; University of Texas at Arlington; University of Texas; University of Texas at El Paso; and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

This page last updated 21 February, 2006