MOSCOW University of Idaho's civil engineering students
took honors at the April 1-3 American Society of Civil Engineers
PNW Regional Student Conference at Oregon Institute of Technology
in Klamath Falls.
The 10 students on UI's steel bridge team took first place,
qualifying them for national competition May 28-29 in Golden,
Colo. They had the lowest construction time: four minutes
and 20 seconds; the highest structural efficiency; the lightest
weight at 144 pounds; and were the most economical, according
to their faculty adviser Ed Schmeckpeper.
Each bridge at the competition was loaded with 2,500 extra
pounds to test its structural strength, he added. Two bridges
collapsed during the load test. Second place went to Oregon
Institute of Technology.
The UI surveying team also took second place in its competition,
said Roger Ferguson, the team's adviser. Oregon Institute
of Technology edged it out for first. "It all came down
to not marking the north arrow on their plat in the rush to
meet deadline," said Ferguson. "The UI team did
everything else very well - measured angles and distances,
took elevations to determine the grade line for a proposed
sidewalk, and measured horizontal and vertical angles to determine
the height of a distant object."
Valkyrie, this year's Vandal Concrete Canoe, "had a
rebuilding year," said Schmeckpeper. It placed 10th in
its competition, which was won by Montana State University's
team.
Despite the "weighty" concrete canoe, UI's team
won third in overall performance at the regional event attended
by 17 university teams. Participating UI students from Idaho
were:
BOISEJesse Drennen, David Sansotta
CRAIGMONTAmy Stillman
HORSESHOE BENDTim Ferguson
IDAHO FALLSRachel Chipman
MOSCOWMitch Berg, Tony Loeser, Esther Miramontes
OROFINOGary Ausman
SHELLEYLeah Kelsey, Guillermo Madrigal
ST. MARIESJocelyn Dickie, Sean Lecoultre
Other states:
Alaska
EAGLE RIVERJoe Miller
California
GONZALESLacy Vosti
Oregon
IMBLERDerek Howard
Washington
OAKESDALERyan Zimmerman
SPOKANEChris McCallum
TOUCHETBeau Gosney
CAMASGeoffrey Walters