All of our design teams are busy making final preparations for PSWC 2016. With less than a week before conference, the KAP basement is full of activity from everyone from steel bridge working on final fabrication and assembly, concrete canoe preparing the stands, section, and display table, geotech building their box, surveying practicing, and environmental finishing their system. We’re excited to showcase our work in Long Beach next week!
Category Archives: Steel Bridge
PSWC 2015 Results
The results are in and one thing is clear — USC ASCE is now a dominant force in the ASCE Pacific Southwest Conference. A year after a shocking 3rd place overall rank at PSWC 2014, our biggest, strongest, most promising team in recent history has repeated with a 3rd place overall finish at PSWC 2015, hosted by the University of Arizona.
An overall placing at PSWC is no small feat. Over twenty events contribute to the overall composite score, and 18 universities vie for victory in each and every one. USC ASCE has records of placing third overall at PSWC only twice (2014, 1994) in our 91-year history, and we believe that we’ve never placed higher with this many schools in our conference. This is truly a special moment for our organization and our members.
Seven of our competition teams placed top-three and all events contributed to our overall finish. I’ll now break down the results for each of our eight design teams, followed by a summary of our placings in all of the smaller events.
Concrete Canoe
Last year’s concrete canoe team established itself as a solid contender with the 6th place finish of DiSCovery II, following a 14th place finish in 2013. This year, the team continued to improve with an even stronger canoe, Jurassic.
A new effort to better understand the structural analysis of concrete canoes contributed strongly to a repeat 3rd place finish in the design paper category, as well as a much-improved 6th place finish in oral presentation. While the smallest of omissions in the engineer’s notebook lead to a significant deduction in the final product category and our slightly modified hull design and logistical constraints with practicing lead to lower placings in three races than last year, our women’s sprint team finished 4th and our women’s endurance team placed 6th. Overall, our team placed 5th with Jurassic, a one-place improvement over last year.
Steel Bridge
This year’s bridge team created an incredibly innovative design featuring a complex connection system that allowed the team to optimize cost, weight, and constructability. The design proved to be time consuming to fabricate, but our dedicated team pulled several consecutive all-nighters, including two in Tucson, to complete their bridge in time for the competition.
Despite only having time for two practice runs, the team put on an impressive show in the bridge assembly stage, highlighted by a novel technique of building most of the bridge over the “land” before swinging it around on a pivot to complete construction. The 14:46 assembly time is one of our best in recent memory. Unfortunately, during assembly, a single washer fell off from one of the members—the washers were used to bolt together the members, as per the competition rules. Because of this, the bridge did not meet the requirements and forced a disqualification. But it should be noted that many, many teams are disqualified from the steel bridge competition for various reasons (13 of the 17 universities at PSWC 2015, in fact), and that result does not diminish the quality of the product that our team produced. Our 2015 bridge is one of the best we’ve created and we’re excited to see what next year’s team will do to build on it.
Environmental
Our environmental team put on a strong showing this year with their water treatment system. They built an impressive structure to house the varying stages of systems and presented their results very professionally. The filtration system was reportedly successful in its initial results, pending further analysis by the judges. In the end, the team placed 8th, giving us a significant contribution to the overall point total and also leaving plenty of room to continue improving in future years.
Geowall
The Geotechnical Engineering competition this year proved to be a challenge for many participants. Teams built a three-sided retaining wall out of paper. Unfortunately our team’s wall was unable to hold the weight of the sand when the box was opened due to a variety of factors. But the team put in a good effort, seen in aspects ranging from their strong presentation poster to their meticulously-designed Trojan-themed box. Looking to next year, the team is excited to see what they can do with the knowledge gained from this year’s efforts.
Surveying
For the first time in many years, our surveying team sought not only to learn enough to get by, but to actively learn various aspects of surveying to further both their individual abilities and the team’s success. Weekly practices throughout the semester and the help of a graduate advisor lead to a strong 6th place finish that contributed significantly to our overall 3rd place finish.
Dog House
A new competition this year, the dog house team sought to build a creative and functional home for a deserving dog that featured a geographically relevant theme. Our result was a spacious wooden structure themed “A Trip Around LA”, featuring food trucks and the food truck culture that is evocative of Los Angeles. Making another significant contribution to the overall point total, our team finished in 6th place. After the competition, our dog house was donated to a local animal shelter, which will be auctioning it off as a fundraiser. We’re excited to have this opportunity to support the local Tucson community and create a new home for a special dog.
Concrete Bowling
While this year’s concrete bowling received a “participation” score, their perfectly-round “sponge-ball” was extremely well-executed and well-received. The team is already planning extensive efforts to better prepare themselves for next year now that they have a solid year to build off of.
Complete Scores
Our team competed in every event at PSWC 2015, and every point mattered in our 3rd place finish, winning by only 15 points. Four of this year’s teams placed 1st and three teams placed 3rd, the highest number of individual event awards in our recorded history.
- Concrete Canoe: 5th
- Design Paper: 3rd (repeat)
- Steel Bridge: DQ
- Technical Paper: 1st
- Geotech: participated
- Environmental: 8th
- Surveying: 6th
- Dog House: 6th
- Transportation: participated
- Quiz/Family Feud: 3rd
- Scavenger Hunt: 1st (repeat)
- Concrete Bowling: participated
- Mystery Event: 1st
- Ultimate Frisbee: 1st
- Basketball: participated
- Soccer: participated
- Talent Show: 3rd
- Impromptu: participated
- Kan Jam: participated
- Tug of War: participated
Overall
I began this post with an explanation of our 3rd place overall finish. But I want to once again emphasize the importance of the contributions each and every one of our teams made. Every single point counts, and our team truly gave this conference their all, fighting through challenges ranging from limited time and budgets to broken noses in the basketball tournament. The shear effort put forth by our team represents a unbelievably solid commitment to our school, our chapter, and each other.
With such an amazingly successful year now complete, it’s hard to imagine what the future may hold. One of the most exciting parts of this year’s team is the number of underclassmen, including seven freshmen, we had. Only twelve seniors on this year’s team are graduating, and while they all played significant roles, we’re better prepared than ever to have younger members fill their shoes. With such a strong base of returning members, all eager to recruit others to join us as well, we can only imagine where we’ll be a year from now.
– Nick Halsey
USC ASCE 2014-2015 Sponsorship/Conference Co-chair
P.S. this is exactly my 100th post on this blog. The website and our club have come an amazingly long way since I first built this site in my freshman year (2013), and I’m excited to see where we go from here!
PSWC 2014 Results
I’ll start off by putting this into perspective and context. Historically, USC ASCE typically places top-three in one or two events at PSWC. Our 18-school conference, combined with perennial powerhouses in the concrete canoe competition, make our conference one of the most competitive of the 15 in the country.
Last year, our only victory, albeit significant, was our first-place environmental win. This year, going into the awards banquet we didn’t expect much, but were proud of our collective effort.
We started out the awards banquet with a 1st place victory in the Scavenger Hunt competition. Despite having a team less than half the size of many other schools, our focus and determination led us to win one of the most fun events, finding cool spots and landmarks around SDSU’s campus and throughout San Diego.
Steel Bridge won 3rd place in construction speed, completing the construction of their bridge in roughly 18 minutes. They also won 3rd in bridge lightness. Our team ended up placing 3rd overall, earning an invitation to the AISC/ASCE National Steel Bridge Competition in Akron, OH!
Last year, our Concrete Canoe team had their first canoe to successfully survive every race in three years, but placed 14th overall. Despite deductions in the oral presentation and final product categories due to technicalities, the Concrete Canoe team placed 6th overall and won 3rd in design paper!
Our paddling team also did well, placing 7th overall. Highlights included our women’s slalom team placing sixth, our 4-person co-ed team winning their heat, and our men’s sprint team winning the small final by less than a second to place 6th, after missing the big final qualification by only a second.
Considering where we were just a year ago, and the fact that most of this year’s USC ASCE PSWC team were first-time attendees, all of these results are spectacular. But as we were celebrating our successes, we won an award that we never expected: 3rd place overall for the entire conference!
The overall conference rank is determined by summing all of the weighted points earned for each event, including canoe and bridge, the smaller design teams, and the sports tournaments. To win, a school must be well-rounded, participate in every event, and fight to win individual games, even if they don’t win entire sports tournaments. USC ASCE has not placed this high in the overall conference rank since 1994. Our 3rd place finish would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our entire team.
Here’s the event placement breakdown that led to our 3rd-place overall finish:
- Concrete Canoe – 6th
- Steel Bridge – 3rd
- Technical Paper – 5th
- Geotechnical / Geowall – Participated
- Environmental – 5th
- Surveying – 7th
- Impromptu & Mystery – Participated
- Family Feud Quiz – T5th
- Basketball – T5th
- Volleyball – Participated
- Ultimate Frisbee – T5th
- Tug of War – Participated
- Kan Jam (2 teams) – T5th, Participated
- Scavenger Hunt – 1st
- Concrete Bowling – Participated
PSWC 2014 Event Point Distribution
This year, we proved that just because we have a smaller department, fewer resources, and less manpower than other schools doesn’t mean that we can’t be successful. Let’s celebrate our victories, analyze our weaknesses, and come back next year ready to take 1st!
PSWC 2014 Day 3: Steel Bridge
The Steel Bridge competition is one of the most exciting to watch, as schools race to assemble their bridge as quickly as possible, before applying loads and testing the deflections. There are countless deductions and possible disqualifications that the teams must avoid, and it isn’t uncommon for over one-third of the teams to be disqualified. Overall, our steel bridge team had a great competition this year, despite failing the lateral load test.
Wheeling the bridge box to the competition. All of the pieces and tools must fit within a certain area. The non-bridge-team-members prepare to cheer the team on. Co-captain Daniel’s ready to assemble a bridge! Last-minute team strategizing. Getting ready to compete. 2014 Steel Bridge Team 2014 Steel Bridge Team Team huddle. Bridge team huddle. The judges ensure that the team understands the competition setup. With the clock started, Daniel runs pieces of the bridge to the other team members. Only the runner can bring things to the people assembling the bridge. Meanwhile, the rest of the team begins assembling the bridge, section by section. Daniel runs another piece of steel to the bridge site. The bridge trusses are held together with bolts. The bolts and drills also have to be run to the assemblers, who hold onto them. The team practices extensively so that the assembly is like clockwork on the day of the competition. Piece by piece, the bridge takes shape. Only the runner is allowed to leave the bridge area. The timing and sequence of each piece’s arrival is critical to a quick construction time. Bridge in the water: the front right column is touching the tape on the ground, signifying that the bridge is in the water and adding a time penalty. Working together to assemble the bridge, piece by piece. Daniel’s still running… Assembling the bridge is definitely a team effort. Initially, all of the bolts are put in loosely by hand, then they’re later tightened with drills. The bridge assembly is complete! The captains inspect the bridge for loose bolts and incorrectly placed pieces. The judges review the time deductions from the bridge assembly process. Winston prepares to make a repair, which costs extra time at a much higher rate. Bridge assembly team with the assembled bridge. Bridge assembly competition team. Good job bridge team! Carrying the bridge to be weighed. Carrying the bridge from the assembly area to the weighing and loading area. Preparing to weigh our bridge. Weighing our bridge. The lateral load test. The lateral load test. It looks like our deflection is considerably too large to pass the lateral load test. We failed the lateral load test, resulting in a large financial penalty (much of the competition is scored on cost). Fortunately, this only effects certain parts of the competition. Everyone helps disassemble the bridge after the competition. Disassembling the bridge.
PSWC 2014 Day 3: Awards Banquet
At the PSWC Awards Banquet, all of the conference attendees gather for a nice dinner and to celebrate their victories at PSWC. We went in expecting to place top-three in maybe one of the smaller events. But we came out with our best year overall since 1994, placing 3rd overall thanks to the hard work of our entire team. Check out the details of our results here.
Scavenger Hunt – 1st Place Acceptance Steel Bridge – 3rd Place Overall Acceptance Full Concrete Canoe results sheet USC – 3rd place overall! USC ASCE: PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Celebration USC ASCE: PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Celebration Our President, Elise, with our PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Award Our President, VP, and Advisor with our PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Plaque Steel Bridge Team: 3rd Place Overall Steel Bridge Team: 3rd place in Lightness and Construction Speed Our 1st-place-winning Scavenger Hunt Team 2014 USC ASCE PSWC Team, with our awards! President’s speech after the ceremony.
PSWC 2014 Day 1: Canoe & Bridge Aesthetics
PSWC 2014 Started off with a beautiful day of Concrete Canoes and Steel Bridges on display!
Early-morning assembly at the hotel. Full trailer waiting to be unloaded. We’re here! Waiting to unload the trailer. The team prepares to lift the canoe out of its cradle. Carrying the canoe out of the trailer. Bringing the canoe onto campus. Bringing the canoe to our display area. Carrying the canoe to our display. Setting the canoe down on temporary stands. USC engineers ready for a busy day. Carrying a canoe stand to our display area… It’s WALL-E! Wheeling a several-hundred-pound rock to our display area to hold the canoe. Placing the canoe stands. Preparing to flip the canoe over. Carefully inverting the canoe for display. Attaching WALL-E’s feet. Assembling the steel bridge for display. Assembling the steel bridge for display. We need another small piece of wood – good thing we brought a saw! USC ASCE NASA-style logo on our Space Shuttle Cutaway Section. Completed canoe display. Fully-assembled bridge. Partial Canoe Team with DiSCovery II. Our final product display table and space shuttle canoe cut-away section. Our canoe cut-away section: a space shuttle. Selfie with WALL-E! DiSCovery II on display. Our 2014 Steel Bridge on display. Nicole with DiSCovery II. Canoe team display. DiSCovery II with its asteroid and WALL-E display stands. Our 2014 Steel Bridge. “The orientation of our canoe display creates a space where exhausted students can rest in its cast shadow.” – a building science student Everyone loves WALL-E! Nicole with our Final Product Display. People view our canoe and bridge displays. Not-the-canoe-team with one of our practitioner advisors. DiSCovery II and the final product display. Canoe Display. Space Shuttle Cut-away Section. Space Shuttle Cut-away Section. Space Shuttle Cut-away Section. DiSCovery II on display. Our 2014 Steel Bridge on display. Everyone loves WALL-E! Our canoe captains deliver the oral presentation. Carrying the canoe back to the trailer, to rest before tomorrow’s races.
Final PSWC 2014 Preparations
All of our design teams are busy with last-minute preparations for PSWC 2014. We’re off to San Diego tonight, excited to compete!
Ben grinds down a piece of the steel bridge. Ben grinds down a piece of the bridge. The Steel Bridge team prepares to practice assembling their bridge. The Steel Bridge team practices assembling their bridge. Kelly holds the results of a failed concrete bowling ball test. The Concrete Bowling Ball awaits its paint job. The Environmental team’s system goes through a test run. Cleaning the basement canoe area. The space shuttle cut-away section, complete with cardinal red steel stands made from last year’s steel bridge. Kelly and Lucy assemble the final product display table. Admiring the completed canoe-staining. DiSCovery II awaits its lettering. Lucy applies a second coat of paint to the canoe letters. Jake paints canoe letters. Erin paints “Southern” onto the canoe. Carefully painting lettering onto DiSCovery II. Painting on the canoe & university name. Erin paints lettering onto the canoe. Touching up the canoe lettering. Erin and Jessica discuss the status of the canoe finishing. Jessica and Erin paint “DiSCovery II” onto the canoe. Jessica carefully touches up the canoe lettering. Painting lettering onto the canoe. Removing a lettering stencil from the canoe. Watching paint dry. Touching up the canoe lettering. Erin cuts out labels for the concrete aggregate samples for the display table. Jessica goes into full-on artist mode while staining the canoe. All of USC ASCE’s equipment and creations are safely packed into the U–Haul to head to San Diego. WALL-E Looks over DiSCovery II and the rest of our gear in the U-Haul.
Comprehensive Steel Bridge Team Update
Steel bridge team updates:
Haha, just kidding. Unlike the Concrete Canoe competition, steel bridge is very secretive, and we’re not going to disclose any information about our team’s status. Want to find out about our bridge? Come check it out next week at PSWC!
Steel Bridge Update
Our Steel Bridge team is working hard to finish building their top-secret design by March 1st. This will allow plenty of time to tweak and finish the bridge, as well as practicing assembly for the competition. We’re excited for PSWC 2014 and will be selecting our competition team in the next few weeks.
We can always use more help; please email steelbridge@uscasce.com to join our mailing list!
PSWC 2013 Summary
We’ve all recovered from PSWC 2013 (the ASCE Pacific Southwest Regional Conference) and are ready for a final summary. This year we co-hosted the conference, with most of the events taking place on the USC campus. Despite the added commitments of hosting, we were competitive in many events and made several improvements over last year.
Environmental Design Team
Our big win was our environmental team’s 1st Place finish! The team worked long hours and it paid off. Multiple design iterations, a large team, and excellent leadership enabled the group’s success. Since most of the team isn’t graduating yet, including the captains, we expect a strong showing for next year as well.
Our Environmental Design Team poses with their water distribution system at the PSWC 2013 Environmental Competition at Pardee Plaza on the USC Campus.
Concrete Canoe Team
Our Concrete Canoe made big improvements over our last several years’. For our seniors, this was the first time our canoe survived all the way until the final, coed race, when four people must race in the canoe at once. Naturally, our primary senior leaders celebrated our success by all racing together for the first time. Our final product was extremely buoyant and only faced minimal cracking issues (except during transportation). While we may not have had the prettiest canoe, it improved significantly over last year’s in aesthetics and we expect to improve further in coming years with the help of a larger team, better year-to-year knowledge transfer, and additional funding. A total of five schools were unable to race their canoes by midway through race day this year, so our solid (if heavy) canoe represents a huge accomplishment.
The Concrete Canoe Team poses with their USC-themed canoe, SC Traveler, after successfully finishing all five races at PSWC 2013.
Photo © 2013 Lance Hill
Steel Bridge Team
The Steel Bridge Team also completed a successful final product at PSWC 2013. Our bridge team is also young this year and only one team member (our head captain) is graduating, so we’re expecting better and better bridges over the next few years. We hope to grow this team larger as well, which should help ensure that we have regular strong finishes for years to come.
The Steel Bridge Team poses with the assembled bridge after the PSWC 2013 competition, in front of Mudd Hall at Pardee Plaza on the USC campus.
Photo © 2013 Lance Hill
PSWC 2013 Rankings & Thanks
Overall, our conference rank for 2013 is 12th, a one-place improvement over last year, out of 18 competing schools. Detailed final scores and rankings information can be found here. But our biggest accomplishment is successfully co-hosting the conference. PSWC 2013 ran extremely smoothly thanks to the tireless work of our E-Board and PSWC planning committee, especially our Conference Co-Chairs Oscar and Theresa. Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we put on an amazing conference, while still faring well in competition!