three students holding bridges from bridge design contest

LHS Physics classes competed in this year's 44th Annual Bridge Design Contest on Friday February 24th.  The event was held at White Oaks Mall in front of Macy’s.

Several schools in Sangamon County submitted their model bridges made out of manila folders and wood glue for testing.  LHS had 11 bridges this year (out of 41 total); we brought a large contingent.   Each bridge was graded on design, construction neatness and tension strength.  There were specific dimensions and weight restrictions that each bridge had to maintain. 

Our students at LHS have been working on these in class for weeks; they put in a lot of hard work and learned quite a bit about teamwork, bridge construction, and real-world physics.This year the engineering firm of Crawford, Murphy and Tilly hosted the event to commemorate Engineer’s Week. Every bridge was tested for tension strength, by adding sand in an attached bucket below the bridge, until it failed. All the points were totaled, and awards and cash prizes were distributed. Lanphier took home a first and third place finish!

The first place Winner - Hannah Morgan (jr) with the pink/purple/blue bridge next to the Third Place Winners (srs)- Vanessa Thompson and Makenna Hudspeth.