Patchogue-Medford Students Sweep Brookhaven Lab’s Bridge Contest

April 17, 2009

UPTON, NY — Patchogue-Medford High School students won the top three spots in Brookhaven National Laboratory’s 2009 Model Bridge Building Contest. Over 70 high school students from eight Suffolk County schools entered the competition, for which they designed and built model basswood bridges with the goal of making the lightest bridge that held the most weight.

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With their teacher Richard Yngstrom are 2009 Model Bridge Building Contest top three winners (from left) Kevin Henderson, Cathy Chan and Dominick Raimondi.

Cathy Chan took first place with a bridge that weighed 24.86 grams and held 97.5 pounds, 1,778.96 times its own weight. Chan also won the aesthetic prize for designing the most attractive bridge.

Dominick Raimondi placed second with a bridge that weighed 29.19 grams and held 111.6 pounds, 1,734.18 times its weight. Third-place honors went to Kevin Henderson, whose bridge weighed 19.82 grams and held 72.21 pounds, 1,652.56 times its weight.

Brookhaven Lab’s Office of Educational Programs coordinated the Model Bridge Building Contest. The first- and second-place winners are eligible to enter the 2009 International Bridge Building Contest, which will be held in Bellingham, Washington on April 25.

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