Bridge Building

Knockskeagh recently hosted a bridge building competition. The competition this year involved all 6th class pupils.

The students’ task was to work in teams against one another to build the strongest bridge. They were provided with just lollipop sticks and glue guns.

The teams used their engineering skills to design and construct each bridge.

After the completion of the construction of each bridge, the testing of the bridges began. Each bridge had weights applied to it, to establish each bridge’s “Failure Load”.

The overall winners were eventually announced as pupils Olive O’Connell, Kerry Coombes, Leah Egan, and Riona O’Toole.

Their bridge named “Lorky Bridge” was able to hold 20kg which was just over 39 times its own weight. This was an amazing achievement in engineering design and construction.

Along with their name now being etched on the engineering challenge trophy, the winning team also won a number of small prizes. Well done to all who participated in this project.

We’d like to thank Declan O’Shea Engineer in Dunmanway who sponsored the “Engineering Challenge Trophy” a few years ago.

Please see our gallery below for a sample of the excellent design and construction of this year’s bridges.