Lehigh’s Steel Bridge Team builds toward nationals

Wearing metallic gold helmets, Lehigh students grind, drill and weld as they prepare for one of the toughest engineering competitions. By the end of each build, they’re covered in dirt and sweat, exhausted but determined to take home a championship. 

Lehigh’s Steel Bridge Team brings together engineering students to compete in the National Steel Bridge Championship — a title they’ve never won but hope to claim one day.

The contest pits universities against each other to invent and assemble a steel bridge with rules and design expectations that change each year.  

Harrison Troy, ‘28, the team’s head of construction and fabrication, said last year’s regional competition at Penn State ended in disappointment after a time penalty led to disqualification.

“The entire executive board was brand new last year,” Troy said. “So no one, except for one of our members, had been to a competition.”

This year, the team is determined to improve. Troy said about 50 students attended the club’s first interest meeting, a promising start as members prepare to design and build a bridge using scrap steel donated by Schlosser Steel. 

About six students will represent Lehigh in the competition, constructing a 20-foot bridge from  11 pieces of steel that must all fit into a designated “member box,” which restricts the team to a limited amount of materials.  

Club president, Joe Dupree, ‘27, said alignment issues slowed the team down last year, but a potential sponsorship could help with funding this year. 

“Honestly, my main goal for the club is every year I want to do better than how we did last year,” Dupree said. 

Unlike some universities that offer three-credit courses tied to the competition, Lehigh offers only a one-credit class. Troy said that makes team meetings outside of the class especially important.

Dupree said the group meets weekly during the fall, then twice a week as the competition held in the spring gets closer. 

He also said the team is hoping to move its main workspace from Mountaintop Campus to Fritz Engineering Laboratory, where most of its tools are located. 

Troy said to prepare, the club plans to run safety training sessions at Mountaintop’s steel center, where members can learn welding, cutting and drilling. They also hold sessions on computer-aided design to create blueprint models of the bridge.

For members like Gavin Santiago, ‘27, the hands-on work is what makes the club rewarding.  

“I did less of welding and more of bolting holes to make sure the pieces fit together,” Santiago said. “My favorite part is working in the metal shop and getting to know other engineers.”

Despite being disqualified last year, Santiago said the team made progress. 

He also said the team is required to hold a certain amount of weight on their bridge, amounting to about 2500 pounds by the end of the competition.

“Last year was the first time since 2017 that we were actually able to hold a load of 2500 pounds without the bridge failing,” Santiago said.

This spring, Lehigh will compete at the regional contest hosted by the University of Pittsburgh, with hopes of advancing to the National Finals in El Paso, Texas.