Carson Valley Middle School students take first in bridge-design contest

A team of two students from Carson Valley Middle School took first place in a virtual bridge-design contest recently in Carson City.

Derek Bolstad and Mitchell Powell, both eighth-graders, were awarded first place April 29 for their bridge design, which satisfied the design criteria at the most economical cost.

The West Point Bridge Competition, which was held at Resource Concepts Inc., was the third annual contest sponsored by the Capital Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The event challenges middle school students to design bridges using a computer program created by the West Point Military Academy.

The boys received $100 for the first place overall win and $100 for qualifying first in their school. The competition was the final round for 2006.

Semi-qualifying rounds began in January, and teams worked unsupervised. Based primarily on cost, as well as meeting design criteria, first-, second- and third-place teams were selected with the first- and second-place teams invited to compete in the final round. Other qualifiers include: Nikolai Kolupaev, first; Mitchell Miles, second; and Dominic Cavilia, third, all from St. Teresa's School; and Merrill Asp, first; Melyssa Schacten, second; and Jake Suggs, all from Carson Middle School. Carson Valley Middle School only had one entry.

Most important, the students participated in a fun and educational extracurricular activity.

The society, which funds the event, would like to thank this year's participants and looks forward to next year's event.

• Joe Cacioppo is a local civil engineer with Resource Concepts Inc. who oversees the local bridge-design competition.