(March 26, 2004) — Sophomore Alina Sarkissian gingerly sets a half-kilogram weight into the bucket suspended from her distressed bridge. She watches in mild horror as her bridge creaks and finally gives way, sending one of its halves flying feet into the air, while the second half falls to the table below. This event, which occurred March 3, was part of the 2004 nationwide Bridge Building Contest that Clark has taken part in annually for three years. All Clark students were welcome to participate; in fact, many teachers offered extra credit for taking part. All told, 55 students entered the competition this year, 11 of whom met the strict guidelines. Students had four weeks from the time they received their materials to when the bridges were due. This year, first place went to sophomore Axel Martirosyan, whose bridge held 52 kilograms for an efficiency of 1,188, meaning it held 1,188 times as much as it weighed. Freshman Haik Patatanyan’s bridge took second place, with an efficiency of 683.5. Last year’s winner was junior Eric Delgado whose bridge held 26.5 kilograms for an efficiency of 1,206, and last year’s best design went to senior Artia Moghbel. As in past years, the two top bridges from Clark will be rebuilt for the national competition in Baltimore, Maryland on April 24. Though the prize for this years winner has not yet been declared, past winners have received full or half scholarships to the Illinois Institute of Technology. This year, bridges were made such that a miniature rail car could pass through the entire length, meaning that there could be no diagonal supports as there were in past years’ competitions. Also, the bridges had to be able to support the load at three different places; they had to be designed with flexibility in mind. Specific guidelines bridges must follow change from year to year. Two years ago, builders had to deal with a height difference between the sides of the gap the bridge was supposed to span. Last year, bridges had to be able to support the load both from above and below “road surface” level. Sadly, all the students’ efforts were ultimately destroyed. The whole point of the competition was to test the bridges until they failed, often ending in explosive destruction. Each bridge was placed over a 30-centimeter gap and had a metal bucket attached with a hook. Students loaded weights into the bucket one by one until their bridge failed; the last weight put into the bucket was considered the bridge’s “fail point.” Strong bridges fail in many places while weakly-designed bridges will fail in a single place, leaving the bridge mostly intact, with, for example, a single support piece or the place holding the bucket breaking off. The best bridges are destroyed completely and evenly, meaning that the fail point is supported in a variety of ways.