During the event, about 40 teams of college students will be building-in as little as six or seven minutes to demanding specifications-the best, most structurally sound, most economical and aesthetically pleasing one-tenth-scale steel bridge, spanning 18 feet.

But while contestants will clearly be having fun, the competition is more than an effort to beat the clock. The steel bridge-building competition tests students on critical aspects of professional engineering.

"These are not canned textbook problems," said Joseph Holm, a UB senior and team member. "This is our first chance to apply what we have learned in school to a real-life situation." The competition is the culmination of a semester's worth of hours of designing, testing and building a bridge, as well as taking part in and winning regional competitions.

Students design their bridge in response to a problem statement that outlines construction requirements. One concern is paramount: "The bottom line is safety," said Holm. "In the real-world, real people are going to be driving across your bridge, and if it fails, they're going to die." Teams pay penalties if there's a collapse, if they use unapproved components or temporary shoring and if construction is deemed negligent in any way. They pay penalties if a team member fails to wear a hardhat, or if a construction crew member or part of the bridge equipment touches the "river," over which the bridge is being built. "We're designing and testing the bridge just as if we were doing it at a job," said Holm.

One of the most important lessons the students take away from the contest is that designs that look good on paper don't necessarily work in the field. "Sometimes engineers design structures that can't be built," said Holm, "and that was one thing we discovered in this exercise."

Although pressures are substantial, they're unanimous in their enthusiasm for the experience. They note that the bridge-building contest is one of the few social outlets for engineering students. "Engineering courses are very competitive," said Niki Schute, an undergraduate engineering student at UB and student coordinator of the contest. "But the bridge team is like a fraternity."

Bridges are rated on stiffness, lightness, construction speed, efficiency, economy and aesthetics. Members of the New York State Steel Fabricators Association, assisted by professional engineers and architects, will be judges. Teams compete for first, second and third prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000.

The competition is a featured event of the 50th anniversary of the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which was established in 1946. The event is sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction, a non-profit association representing the fabricated structural steel industry in the U.S.

National co-sponsors are American Society of Civil Engineers, James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation and American Iron and Steel Institute. Local co-sponsors are Associated General Contractors, Association for Bridge Construction and Design, Buffalo section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, UB Engineering Alumni and other organizations.