Bridge Building Contest Home Page

The construction and testing of model bridges promotes the study and application of fundamental principles physics and also helps high school students develop "hands on" skills through bridge construction. By participating in the Bridge Building Competition students get a flavor of what it is to be an Engineer, designing structures to a set of specifications and then seeing them perform their function. They are also provided with an academically-oriented extracurricular activity which is recognized school-wide.

About the Contest

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be organizing a 2021 contest. However, we are planning a 2022 contest and information about this will be posted here in the summer of 2021. We appreciate all the effort that our Regional Contest Hosts put into their contests each year and we hope that you are all safe!

A short video introducing the contest

2020 International Contest Information

Announcements and bridge specifications for the 2020 International Bridge Building Contest to be held in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, May 9, 2020.

Results of the 2020 International Bridge Building Contest held at Illinois Institute of Technology on October 23, 2020.

Rank	Name	School	Efficiency
1	Jasmine Chung	A-Tech Academy	3914
2	Saiteja Nagabothu	Westview High School	3790
3	Doanh Ly	A-Tech Academy	2679

See the full results

watch the video of the entire contest

2020 Chicago Regional Contest Information

Results of the 2020 Chicago Regional Bridge Building Contests held at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

Chicago City Region

Rank	Name	School	Efficiency
1	Aidan Vaughan	Payton College Prep	1782
2	Ethan Tam	Jones College Prep	1441

Chicago North Suburban Region

Rank	Name	School	Efficiency
1	Gabriel Schorosch	Neuqua Valley High School	1835
2	Michael Sakowicz	Metea Valley High School	1116

Chicago South Suburban Region

Rank	Name	School	Efficiency
1	Tori Entwistle	Lincoln-Way East High School	2258
2	Jackson Seida	Lincoln-Way East High School	2113

Regional Contest Locator

Find your school's region, if it is already established, and who organizes the regional contest. Setting up new Regions

Learn how to start a new region if your school is not currently within an established region. Running your own school contest

Tips on organizing and conducting your own school contest. Bridge building help

Links to bridge building tips and the video of Roy Coleman's tutorial on bridge building. Pictures and Videos of past contests

Our picture archive

videos of past contests