Steel Bridge at Rutgers

RU Steel Bridge

About Us

We’re a group of students gaining hands-on experience every year through the design and fabrication of a model bridge, culminating in competitions with over 200 other university teams across the country. These bridges must span a distance of 20 feet and support 2,500 pounds, and competitions mimic real construction with teams judged on build time, bridge weight, and deflection under load. Everyone gets directly involved in every step from concept to construction, including: structural analysis, material estimation, constructability, fabrication (such as cutting, drilling, and welding steel), construction sequencing, presenting a poster, and exercising leadership and project management skills. By applying skills from the classroom and developing engineering intuition while having fun with peers, our steel bridge team is a highlight of many students’ college experiences.

The Competition

AISC

About the Competition

2023-2024 Rulebook

AISC Steel Bridge Competition

The AISC steel bridge competition is held every year between teams of engineering students from universities across the country. New rules are released at the beginning of each school year, and teams must design and fabricate bridge members that could be efficiently assembled during the competition at the end of each school year. Just like in real-world bridge construction, where engineers strive to minimize total costs (such as labor and materials), steel bridge teams are judged on a variety of factors, such as build time, number of builders, bridge weight, and deflection. While the specifications change year-to-year, the bridge typically needs to span over 20 feet, support 2,500 pounds, and be constructed using pieces no longer than 3.5 feet, all connected with nuts and bolts. The first competition was held between 3 schools in 1987, and now over 200 teams participate each year. Every team competes in their respective regional competition (Rutgers is part of the “Metropolitan” region, including schools from NJ and the NYC area) and the winners of regional competitions are invited to the national competition!