Lincoln-Way 210 students place high at regional bridge-building contest

Students from Lincoln-Way District 210 competed in a regional bridge-building contest Jan. 28 at Illinois Institute of Technology.

About 80 bridges from more than 25 schools were entered in the contest, which was broken into three regions, south suburbs, north suburbs and the city of Chicago.

In the South Suburbs Region, Lincoln-Way District 210 had eight of the top 10 spots. Lincoln-Way East student Tori Entwistle’s bridge won the contest with an efficiency of 2258.

Lincoln-Way East’s Jackson Seida finished second, Lincoln-Way Central’s Kaitlyn Bittner finished fourth, Lincoln-Way East’s Davey Fitzpatrick finished fifth, Lincoln-Way West’s Nolan Krol and Sydney Swanberg finished sixth and seventh, Lincoln-Way East’s Jacob Falejczyk finished eighth, and Lincoln-Way Central’s Hannah Luming finished ninth.

Entwistle’s bridge had a mass about 19 grams (about the mass of 4 nickels) and held about 95 pounds. The winning bridge is determined by efficiency. The equation for efficiency is the mass held divided by the mass of the bridge. Efficiency states that her bridge held 2258 times its own mass.

Entwistle also received the Garcher Trophy, awarded to the most efficient bridge in the three Chicago regions. The trophy is named in honor of the founder of Midwest Products, a big supporter of this contest in its early days.

Entwistle and Seida are eligible to represent Lincoln-Way East at the International Bridge Building Contest at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago on May 9.