Gettin' Crazy With the Cheese Whiz

Fabrication continues here as we are constantly updating the bridge for faster sequences and eliminating wasted material in certain details. We'll have a first tensile test of our new DK connection style by next week, and we'll weld DK frames this Saturday. CD's have been welded. Faiyaz and Joe are very handy with the MIG, the welds are near flawless considering the material they're working with. All good signs here. Preliminary practices out in front of Bainer will start in mid to late February if we're focused.

'Guins well underway

Track YSU's progress here:

http://www.ysu.edu/stu_org/asce/bridge/

We are...

...Penn State! Incredible new site for the Nittany Lions of the Mid-Atlantic Conference.

http://www.engr.psu.edu/asce/

Sharks with Guns

Impressive 2007 NSSBC finisher, Lafayette College will be hosting the 2008 Mid-Atlantic and it looks like they're attempting to revamp their website. Groovy!

http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~asce/

Roos firing it up

UMKC has hit the shop!

http://steelroos.blogspot.com/

USF up and running again

The University of South Florida is again, ahead of the SE Conference by quite a bit...

USF Bulls Getting it Done



Oh wait, outsourcing fabrication???

That's how you get ahead huh?

Well, at least the University of Oregon doesn't have an engineering department ;-p

Project Management

Practice helps just as much as getting a perfect fabrication completed. Manage your Steel Bridge Project ahead of schedule and you will compete at a higher level come regionals.

From Austin ASCE Newsletter - Dec. 2007:

"The Steel Bridge team is preparing for the Texas-Mexico regional competition which will be held in Beaumont, Texas January 18-19. After finishing 6th place at Nationals last year in Los Angeles, CA out of nearly 200 universities, top 10 in every category, and with a near full team returning, the team is prepared to perform at the same caliber this year. For the first time ever, the team will be finishing fabrication before Christmas."

http://www.austinasce.org/Newsletters/Dec07.htm

Push the pace and get it done at least 2 weeks early, that should give you enough time to load test, fix any structural problems/issues thereafter, and practice for at least 5 days before regionals. It truly helps! Get 'em done on time!

Word from Beaumont

2008 Tex Mex Regional SBC Homepage

It seems the Longhorns are primed to prove 2007 was not a fluke as they've appeared to have stomped out the Tex Mex competition quite comfortably at Lamar University yesterday. The Texas A & M Aggies came in second and will make yet another run into the heart of NSSBC country in Gainesville. Word from those present is that The University of Texas will be in the Top 5...with all this time to practice they could very well be the 2008 NSSBC Champ.

Two of the 12 possible teams in Beaumont had load failures prior to competition so only 2 have qualified. Keep those puentes sturdy out there people. The loading has only gotten worse since Northridge.

Other notes (updated 1/25/08): UT San Antonio finished 3rd. 4th was the University of Houston. 5th went to Universidad La Salle Cuernavaca. Two other teams (beams apparently) had load failures. Two other teams on top of that were not given permission to proceed to final loading status because of excessive sway. TAMUK had a load failure prior to competition. UTEP seemed missing in action from competition with no real explanation.

Well, we're off and running, and the Longhorns have set the pace. Can you keep up?




Round 1 of
Hook 'em
is in the books!

NDSU reflects on 5th Crown

With the Tex-Mex Conference set to kick off the 2008 Steel Bridge season this Saturday in Beaumont, TX, the 2007 NSSBC Champ is firing in the shop to prep for the toughest regional SB Conference in the Midwest. No doubt, the Fargo Bison will be bringing it to the table in '08. Ya betcha!

http://www.acm.ndsu.nodak.edu/~amersoci/STEEL%20BRIDGE.htm

March to March

Well it's about 2 months until our desired finish date. Fabrication continues to excel as the new blood are putting in mondo hours in the shop. Our second steel order is going through to Pennsylvania today or tomorrow. The DK material is on backorder from Illinois and should be here by the end of the month hopefully...without kinks and without any other spoils.

Mainly we've been doing the connection work which is the most important. Welding will commence on our initial DK section when we've got some connection pieces finished up from the shop.

Matt is contemplating attending the Tex-Mex Conference this weekend. Hopefully ex-Chico SBT designer Chin will be able to accomodate the transportation to Beaumont. Chin's now working on his M.S. at Texas A & M.

Tex Mex 2008

We've received word that the Tex Mex Conference is set to go the weekend of January 18, 19 & 20th, not the week after like on the ASCE site.

Thanks for the heads up Texas Aggies!

Newslink about Lamar University hosting 2008 TxMxSBT Conference:

http://www.lamar.edu/newsevents/news/207_5998.htm

2K8!!!

The New Year is upon us, and true to form we're working hard to hit the ground running this week and on into our annual fabrication quarter...our finish date is set for St. Patrick's Day 2K8. We'll celebrate with a little Guinness and of course, those lovely finals. It's always hard to remember that we came to Davis to do some fancy book learnin' on top of making cool shit.

We've got loads to accomplish and lots of practice to break into so let's get on it people and ram it home!