On Friday, 6 May 2022, Qualifying Year students in the Department of Civil Engineering competed in a bridge model test. Three groups of students built their bridges with one-meter span, using nothing but wood and glue. The winning bridge weighed only 117 g but was able to sustain a load of more than 28 kg. This clearly demonstrates the importance of bridge design: with the right design and construction, the bridge can carry very large load with very little material.

The bridge competition is an essential component of the Group Design Project module (CIVE1017). In this module, students were asked to design a bridge with a 100 m span first, followed by building a 1:100 scale model for later loading tests of the bridge. Applying the knowledge they learned from Civil Engineering courses, students were able to continuously improve and optimise their design throughout the journey, resulting in a most cost-effective bridge.

The Group Design Project module was first introduced in the 2016-2017 academic year; it has been an integral component of our restructured BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering programme, whereby the approach of problem-based and project-based learnings are adopted. This approach familiarises our students with real-world problems and allows for in-depth and constructive learning. Students also gain interpersonal and networking skills via their teamwork.