Team Chrome Ollie 2008-2009: July 2008

With 294 Days, 19 Hours, 44 Minutes and 12 Seconds left to go until Vegas, the thoughts of what the NSSBC Committee will do with the Bridge Profile continues to spin around in our heads. Looking at it a little bit further, maybe a quickie timeline will help:

2004:
The two span bridges continue, along with ze Causewayz, except this time with efficiency taking the taco for the overall score, the two span beams of 2003, turn into two span truss/beam bridges. One university, however, located in the former Calhoun, South Carolina, dares to be different and continues on with the dual beamage. Accompanied by a thorough understanding of the Rules, some analytical and fabricatal ingenuity, and enough huevos to make Pancho Villa jealous, they devise a plan for the perfect "rule stretcher" of a bridge that is lighter than 100 lbs., and, according to the Rules, deflects less than 0.28" aggregate. But then, just as the pinnacle of this genius is about to be forged to the rest of the nation, the Rules committee is determined to show that there is an actual "Spirit" to this thing called the NSSBC. They proceed to swiftly swoop out of the eagle eyed heavens with their pens and pencils and scratch out the South Carolinans hopes of Epic Steel Bridge Grandeur with an Inovation Award in place of a 1st Place Overall Plaque. Fearing the worst, the committee decides that there are too many schools thinking too darn hard about how to make the perfect "Rules Stretching" Bridge...and thus, unveil the return of the single span bridge...

2005:
Could it really be? One Span? What? Wow, wait, it's 21 feet long?? What is this strange profile? This is not my beuautiful house! How did it get here? The committee goes primal and changes the crap out of everything...from a single span bridge to allowing super deep trusses, to making this funky little land mass that builders have to weave their way through like some salsa dancer busting moves on the dustied, sanded hardwood floors of Havana's beachfront. All changes, yet, all is excessively simple, except for figuring out how to build a truss fast rather than just a wee ole' beamer. And there was also this...skew thingy...hmmmmmmmm...

2006:
After the 'fast truss' year comes another roughie. Yup, we're gonna lengthen this span, yes we're gonna shrink yo depth, yes we're gonna put a spot on the site that nobody can reach without the help of Yao Ming. Another year of single span, yet simplified on site for easier building...no causeway, no island, no anything to keep you from straight bookin' it back and forth from the yard. With the level of Steel Bridge athlete rising...the committee looks at 2006 and wonders how to level the playing field yet again...

2007:
STOP! GO AROUND! COME ON YOU LOOKIE LOOS NOTHING TO SEE HERE! Ahhhhhh, ye ole' jolly revetment...you are so in my way!!! With steel prices on the rise, the NSSBC Committee shows a socio-economic conscious and forces the overweight/overstiff bridges of 2006 to trim yo arse down and get muy thrifty! To help the cause, however, the single span is shrunk to roughly 19', super deep profiles are allowed...(and taken advantage of by those South Carolinans again)...and the clock is ticking you bad mutha! For the first time since 2004, the full depth 'diamond decks' are allowed with the 9" deck window, and with lightness being necessary, so too are the deep decks to help keep 'er stiff. Speed kills, but the revetments slow the single span show just enough to keep folks safe. How on Earth are things gonna change for 2008?

2008:
Holy cow, is this like the same Bridge from 2007? No wait, it's gotta be stiffer..."yeah but not much"...we can't go 7' anymore..."so what? well, I reckon to some folks that's a burden"...the revetment is still there..."bloody hell that's lame"...remember Cal's stiffness at Northridge..."yeah, let's box that sucka somehow!"...how stiff is too stiff?..."we'll know after regionals"...this needs to be faster..."ugh, pick a gun and stick to it - but use 2 barges!!!"...6 or 5? 6 or 5?!!!..."let's be rebellious and go with 5, because 6 builders would force a captain into service"...and on and on, and on, and on. Not a huge variation in Rules except for the incredible balance in scoring...for the first time in what seems like, uh ever, a Bridge Team must do everything well to win. Single span survives, but has it peaked?????

And so we look forward to 2009. Hypotheses have flown around quite a bit, as some feel with the addition of barges in 2008, an island type of Bridge will be upon us, possibly returning the two span bridges, but in a fashion that is clarified in favor of the "spirit" of the competition. Will the depth go down? Will we get deep decks again? When will the long beams come into play...multiple beams? Will the 6 builder rule be changed to 3 or 4 max? What could they do that would possibly rid the revetments yet keep the builders moving at a safe pace? There are no answers until "by mid-August!"

Carry on then, the future is nigh.