Area Students Compete In Bridge Building On Baylor Campus

by Judy Long

Baylor's University for Young People, a summer enrichment opportunity for area youth sponsored by the Center for Community Learning and Enrichment, tested student-designed bridges June 14 as the culmination of the "Better, Stronger Bridges" class.
The ninth through 11th graders took the engineering design class for two weeks, building balsam wood bridges that were put to the ultimate test, adding weight until the structure collapsed. The group with the strongest bridge, dubbed "Tear It Up Part 3," won the competition with a bridge that held 39.5 pounds of weight before collapsing. Baylor's engineering department volunteered the testing equipment used to test model bridges built by freshman engineering majors.
The winning group was comprised of Waco residents Lance Gadlin, Brandon Moreno and Augustine Pena, all students in the Waco Independent School District. Lance Gadlin, a veteran of the UYP program, was pleased with his bridge but wants to take the course again and build an even better one. He also has plans for his college career. "When I come to college, I'm going to major in architecture, and I'm going to bring my bridge, so y'all better be ready," he quipped.