Local theater hosts MoDOT bridge building competition

(Above) Rachel Blalock, a MoDOT design technician, increases the load on a balsa-wood bridge constructed by Notre Dame student Laura Schaefer for the seventh annual bridge building competition Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010 at Cape West 14 Cine. The Missouri Department of Transportation sponsors the competition for high school juniors and seniors in its 14-county southeast district. Students are given 15 pieces of wood, a spool of thread and a bottle of glue to design and construct the most efficient model bridge--the lightest bridge to carry the greatest load. About 250 bridges were entered. Top winners were Aaron Roth, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., first place; Greg Thomas, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., second place; and Dakota Oehl, third place, Oak Ridge. Top schools were Ste. Genevieve, first; Oak Ridge, second; and Chaffee, third. Skylar Simpson of Chaffee won the electronic bridge competition.