18th Annual Battle of the Bridges Contest
Friday & Saturday March 7th and 8th at the Putnam Museum
Streamed Virtual from the Putnam Museum
ALL AGES, with 1-4 people per team
Cost: $30.00 per team
The event is open to any students elementary school and up, families, college students, and professionals. A team may consist of 1 to 4 people, where all team members must be signed up on the registration form.
OBJECTIVE: Build a model bridge using the prescribed tools and provided materials with the greatest structural efficiency.
Rules, Tools, and Materials
Instruction Video
Facebook Livestream
Schedule
| Friday, March 7, 2025 (50 team limit) | Time |
| Check-In/Setup | 10:00am – 10:30am |
| Bridge-Building | 10:30am – 1:30pm |
| Load Testing (Available after 2 Hours) | 12:30pm ~ 2:30pm |
| Saturday, March 8, 2025 (50 team limit) Walk-Ups Welcome! | Time |
| Check-In/Setup | 8:00am – 8:30am |
| Bridge-Building | 8:45am – 11:45am |
| Load Testing (Available after 2 Hours) | 10:45am ~ 1:15pm |
| Awards Ceremony (All Divisions) | ~1:15pm – 1:30pm |
Live-streamed (Load Testing and Awards):
6 CATEGORIES:
- Professional/Societies (2 or more engineers or society professionals)
- Family (Any combination – kids, adults, seniors, one engineer or college student) – see Rule #12
- College (2 or more students beyond 12th grade)
- High School (Grades 9-12)
- Middle School (Grades 7-8)
- Elementary School (Grades 4-6)
Highlights for 2025:
- Registration Deadline – Tuesday, March 4, 2025
- Walk-Ups welcome for Saturday, March 8 only (on a space-available bases, 8-8:30am)
- All team members must be identified on the registration form by Tuesday, March 4, 2025
- Details of the Live Stream options will be made available closer to the event.
- Masking will be voluntary during the event
- Bridge 101.ppt (link to video) (1)
Pictures from previous years
Information From Previous Bridge Events:
- 2023 Results
- 2022 Results
- 2021 Results
- 2020 Results:
- 2019 Results:
- 2018 Pictures
- 2017 Results
- 2016 Results:
- 2015 Results with Pictures:
- 2014 Results with Pictures:
- 2013 Results with Pictures:
- 2012 Results and Pictures:
- 2011 Results and Pictures:
- 2011 Video (5:09)
- 2010 Results and Pictures
- 2009 Pictures
Battle of the Bridge History:
In 2008, the Quad City Engineering and Science Council sponsored it’s first bridge building contest as part of a series of workshops supporting the Da Vinci Exhibit at the Putnam Museum in Davenport. Based on the success of the contest, this is now an annual event.