Updates

Update #1: Fundraising

The 2019-2020 Steel Bridge team met and discussed fundraising and budgeting for the fall and spring semesters. Although subject to change, our preliminary budget totaled to $6,250. Our preliminary budget consisted of materials such as steel, nuts and bolts, tools, a software package, as well as hotel and travel expenses to and from competition. The College of New Jersey School of Engineering will provide $100 to each team member to assist our efforts, however, the rest of the money needed to complete the project will need to be fundraised on our own. As a team, we compiled a list of companies, manufacturers and engineering firms who might be able to assist us in our fundraising efforts. We then drafted up letters to be mailed to the list of companies. Each team member was tasked with individually mailing letters to several companies. Without strength in fundraising efforts and generous funding, material, or industry knowledge, contributions from local companies, this year’s bridge would not be possible. 

Update #2: Pros and Cons Research

With the 2019-2020 AISC Student Steel Bridge Competition rules having been released in late August, it was important to not only read and comprehend the rules, but to also begin developing preliminary design ideas. In order to do so, it was important to conduct research on the successes and failures of previous steel bridge teams not only from TCNJ, but from other schools as well. Each member of this year’s team was to look into, research and watch construction videos from teams who had competed in previous years. Once everyone had individually done their research and summarized the positives and negatives evident in the design and construction, we came together to share our findings. Following our discussion, we drew some conclusions as to what we want to incorporate into our bridge. From our research, we are looking to accomplish the following points in the design, fabrication and manufacturing and construction phases throughout the fall and spring semesters:

  • More members requires more bolts, and more bolts increases the construction time, which affects the final ranking. By using less members, we hope to spend less time tightening bolts and hope to shave a few minutes from our construction time.
  • Speed efficiency and communication amongst team members is imperative. 
  • Quick and effective connections are what set apart the good teams from the great ones. In order to compete at the highest level, well developed and designed connections are essential.
  • Designing members that are similar and can be used over and over in the bridge offers ease when it comes to manufacturability in the machine shop. Cutting or fabricating the same pattern into multiple parts allows for just one jig to be set up and reduces the time spent manufacturing. This allows for more time and energy to be allocated into other jobs such as perfecting construction or having time for load testing. 
  • Lastly, practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to constructing. It was evident what teams had spent a chunk of time practicing constructing their bridge. Those who did not practice tended to put members on in the wrong order or forgot to bolt their bridge together. Such mistakes are costly when it comes to judging.