Written by Tiane Davis and Emma Weber // Photo by Mufasa Lopez
The regional Steel Bridge Competition took place at University of Tennessee at Martin April 4-6 and was hosted by American Society of Civil Engineering and American Institute of Steel Construction. Twenty schools participated in the regional competition. Around eight students went to represent Harding in the competition this year, Harding’s fourth year to compete.
The team placed first, led by team captain and junior civil engineering major Anders Cole and will move on to nationals at Louisiana Tech May 31 and June 1. Junior civil engineering major Mufasa Lopez was a designer for the steel bridge competition and said 40 schools will participate at nationals.
“We even won an award for the best improved team, which was huge for our program,” Lopez said. “I think our numbers look really good, and we hope to place in the top 10.”
To begin preparation, the team of engineering majors started working on the project in the fall with weekly meetings, a presentation for the faculty and approval for the project in December. Harding has competed for the last four years and has placed the last two. The first place finish at regionals moved the team forward to nationals. Cole asid he looks forward to the national competition.
“A lot of time and energy went into this, so it was nice to see some payoff,” Cole said. “There are a lot of good schools at nationals, and we’re happy to be going. We look forward to competing with them.”
In addition to the steel bridge, Harding competed for the first time in the Concrete Canoe Competition. Junior civil engineering majors Claire Hounshell, Ines Sanchez and Reese Marcangeli represented the Harding team.
The Concrete Canoe Competition required tedious planning, due to the 28 days it takes to fully cure the concrete. The competition required many different to be put in storage, but instead they will become part of the Searcy community. Crane-Hasty said Searcy Mayor Mat Faulkner reached out to her about the long-term future of the hammock structures after the project was completed. The structures will remain on the front lawn until the end of the semester, and they will be donated and rebuilt in one of the public parks in Searcy after that, Crane-Hasty said. avenues of engagement from research, design, scheduling, 3D modeling and researching materials. All planning had to be completed before cast day Feb. 10. Over 15 students and three professors helped construct the 18.5-foot-long concrete canoe.
The members on the team navigated the competition and faced the new experience head-on. Team captain Claire Hounshell embraced the opportunity to compete and learn the ropes.
“I would just like to thank all the people that helped us along the way and showed up on our cast day,” Hounshell said. “The concrete canoe team owes a lot of our success this year to all the guidance, labor and encouragement we received this year. Now that we have a better idea of what does not work for us and what other very successful concrete canoe teams have used, I think next year’s canoe can be greatly improved and executed more easily.”
