Carleton engineering students could not quite cross the bridge to victory March 5 at the 26th annual Troitsky Bridge Building Competition at Concordia University.

The competition saw 30 teams from Ontario and Quebec universities square off to build the ultimate bridge. Although six teams from Carleton competed, none of them received top 10 placements.

Carleton team1001 Uses, which placed 16th overall, almost saw top 10 glory.

“If they had not incurred a five-point penalty for not meeting the one-metre open-span requirement, they would have made the top 10,” said event co-ordinatorChris Maloney.

Many aspects had to be taken into account when judging a bridge. Ten points were awarded for aesthetics and originality and another 10 points for booth layout. The rest of the points were awarded for structural efficiency and carrying capacity of the bridge.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, hailing from McMaster University, walked all over the competition. Its bridge was able to resist a staggering 2,733 kilogram forces (6025 lbs), obliterating the previous years winning team by 873 kilogram forces (1924 lbs).

“The Carleton teams have always played an instrumental and crucial role in this competition — displaying incredible spirit in both number of participants and unsurpassed vocal ability.” Maloney said.

The first competition was held in 1984 after Michael S. Troitsky, a professor of civil engineering, came up with the idea in his bridge design class. It was first limited to Concordia civil engineering students, but soon took off, becoming a tradition amongst engineering students and faculty.

The central attraction to the competition is a device known as the crusher.  The crusher is a screw-jack style mechanism, responsible for applying the weight to the bridges to test their weight capacity. Contestants and audience members cheer the machine on as they watch bridge after bridge succumb to its inevitable fate.

Carleton was amongst the most vocal when The Crusher came into the picture.

“Their cheering of every team to step up to the crusher with a seemingly endless library of chants speaks volumes to their character and level of sportsmanship,” Maloney said.

The competition is a way to display innovation and knowledge,and also a great way for engineering students to gather and meet.

Carleton will continue to show Raven pridenext year, where they will again try to cross the bridge to victory.

“We all look forward to seeing Carleton next year at the 27th Troitsky Bridge Building Competition,” Maloney said.