CONCORDIA BRIDGE BUILDING TEAM

The Troitsky Bridge Building Competition is an annual competition hosted at Concordia University consisting of building a bridge model using popsicle sticks, toothpicks, dental floss, and white glue, cleverly engineered to withstand an increasing point load.  After planning the design of their model bridge throughout the academic year, participating teams of four to six students each have a three-hour period to assemble their bridge using prefabricated parts and manual tools. Then, they must present their design process by demonstrating their engineering skills to a panel of judges before subjecting their bridge to “The Crusher”, the infamous hydraulic press.

The concept was created in the 1960s when civil engineering professor Dr. Michael S. Troitsky  wanted to help the students of Sir George William University (now Concordia) improve their engineering knowledge by creating bridge models out of the unconventional materials. The idea started growing in popularity until 1984, when they decided to make an official competition out of this fun modeling project

Since then, the Troitsky competition has massively evolved to a three-day nationally recognized event that includes networking opportunities, social events, and educational workshops in addition to the competition itself. Each year, over 200 undergraduate students from all across Canada and the United States gather at Concordia University to compete in this event.