For further information contact:
Diane Greenberg, 631 344-2347, greenb@bnl.gov or
Mona S. Rowe, 631 344-5056, mrowe@bnl.gov

Patchogue-Medford High School Students Take Top Honors At Brookhaven Lab Model Bridge Contest

UPTON, NY - With the top four bridges, Patchogue-Medford High School students were the engineering whiz kids at the 2001 Model Bridge Contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. 

Matthew Franco (center) and Edward Tremblay (right) took first-place and third-place honors, while Longwood Junior High School student Kurt Speilmann (left) won the aesthetic award for the bridge judged most attractive. Not shown are Aiah Wider, second-place winner; and Yanka Li, whose bridge took fourth place.

About 300 high school students from 24 schools in Suffolk County participated in the contest, with the goal being to build the lightest bridge that supports the most weight. Franco's winning bridge weighed in at 17.7 grams and withstood more than 2,700 times its own weight before it broke under the pressure of a stress tester.

The top three winners received gift certificates in the amounts of $100, $75 and $50, and the aesthetic bridge winner received a $25 gift certificate, courtesy of BSA, a Stony Brook University and Battelle partnership that manages the Laboratory  for the Department of Energy. BSA will also send the top two winners to Chicago in April to enter the 2001 International Bridge Building Contest.