Bridge Building Contest Home Page

The 2026 contest dates have been set. The Chicago Regional contest will be held on the Illinois Tech campus on Wednesday, January 21, 2026 and the International Contest will be held in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The specifications are now available, please follow the links below.

A short video introducing the contest

2026 International Contest Information

Announcements and bridge specifications for the 2026 International Bridge Building Contest to be held in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, April 25, 2026.

Previous International Bridge Building Contest videos 2020, 2023, 2025

Announcements and bridge specifications for the 2026 Chicago Regional Bridge Building Contest which was held at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, January 21, 2026.

This year's contest will be held in the Hermann Hall Auditorium with check-in starting at 4:00pm.

Parking is available on the Illinois Tech campus in visitor lot B5 which is marked in Yellow on the campus map. Before 5:00 pm, please use the Visitor lot (no payment is necessary) and after 5:00 you may use open spots in the larger B5 lot marked in black.

Congratulations to all the 2026 Chicago Area Regional Contest Winners!

Chicago City Region

Rank	Name	School	Efficiency
1	Ilde Pons Grau	St. Ignatius College Prep	1790
2	Eliot Urdaneta Largura	Amundsen High School	1424

Chicago Suburban Region

Rank	Name	School	Efficiency
1	Alexa Grove Schneider	Lincoln-Way East High School	2133
2	Sebastian Cobo	St. Francis High School	2006

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

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

Tips on organizing and conducting your own school contest.

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

Our picture archive and videos of past contests.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the IIT Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and the Illinois Engineering Council.

Documents and information pertaining to the International Bridge Building Contest.

We maintain this web site, oversee the International Contest each year and keep track of new regions. Find out who we are!