Popsicle Stick Bridge Competitions were nothing new. They had been conducted at Mohawk for years as a classroom exercise. Now it was time to see if we could make an "event" out of it. Several enthusiastic faculty members in the Civil Engineering Dept. decided they’d give it a go. The word went out that a competition would be held in two weeks.
Somehow we managed to ‘rope’ 23 entries into the first great Mohawk College Annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition. It was held in the Materials Lab on Friday March 25, 1988. The question of the day was "What do you do when you throw a party and everyone shows up?" We were amazed when well over 100 people showed up. They were hanging from the rafters. But what a great time as each cracking sound brought cheers, whooping and hollering from the enthusiastic throngs.
When the smoke and sawdust had cleared, 3rd year Civil Engineering Technology students Charley Salameh and Mike Kalyn were the structural victors with a bridge that had the following stats:
| Bridge Image |
|
| Winners Name | Mike Kalyn & Charley Salameh, 3CV15 |
| Bridge Weight | 0.449 lbs. (203.6 g) |
| Load at Failure | 826 lbs. (3674 N) |
| Performance Rating: | 1837 lb./lb. (18,043 N/kg.) |
Rob Hornblow, 1st year Civil Technology was a distant second with a bridge that carried 923 times its own weight.
Popsicle I was in the books. We knew we were on to something good here.
Click the link for the entire results of 1988. (not available)