Strong participation and performance in the Lusatian bridge construction competition

Both the field of participants and the level of performance and breaking strength of the bridges were exceptionally high at this year's competition. Numerous spectators kept their fingers crossed for the participants with their bridge models.

"Which bridge is particularly strong and light?" - This question was posed by a particularly large number of BTU students from the Cottbus and Senftenberg campuses and, once again, pupils from the Georg Heinsius von Mayenburg School in the Senftenberg district of Brieske. Of the 17 registered bridges, ten came from Mechanical Engineering alone, two from the students from Brieske, others from the Medical Engineering study programme and the Orientation Studies Programme as well as Tim Leuschner, a Mechanical Engineering graduate who had already won the competition twice and entered again with a bridge model.

Tim Leuschner was also the winner once again, taking the challenge cup. Weighing just 269.5 grams, his bridge had a breaking force of 4158 newtons, which is the equivalent of around 416 kilograms.

The team "Die wird schon halten" - made up of BTU Mechanical Engineering students from the third semester - took second place. With a weight of 399.3 grams, it had an enormous breaking force of 4620 newtons.

Third place went to a team from the first semester of the Medical Engineering study programme, whose bridge had a breaking force of 2666 newtons at a weight of 300.6 grams. The results of the two student teams with their bridges were also very impressive.

In the Mechanical Engineering  bridge-building competition, the aim is to construct a bridge from a maximum of 250 ice cream sticks, 20 meters of parcel string and wood glue that can carry as much load as possible with as little dead weight as possible. The bridge models of the participating teams are tested alternately and under the same conditions on a specially developed test stand and loaded until they break.

The student bridge construction competition was once again organized on 14 December 2023 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sylvio Simon and Prof. Dr. Matthias Ziegenhorn by teaching and research fellow Stephan Hernschier and Michael Weist from the Construction Engineering working group.
The winners were delighted to receive prizes - provided by regional companies - and certificates - presented by Prof. Simon and Stephan Hernschier. The Institute for Environmental Technology and Recycling Senftenberg e.V. (IURS) supported the competition.

Further information: https://www.b-tu.de/brueckenbauwettbewerb/