Up for a Challenge? Design a 2-Ounce Tower that Supports 180 Pounds

It’s National Engineers Week, and that means a big annual event is kicking off for our Green Bay area office. All the eighth-graders at Parkview Middle School in Ashwaubenon will form teams to build towers out of balsa wood and glue, trying to get their designs to support as much weight as possible. Ayres engineers visited with students Monday to review Tower Challenge guidelines and pass along pointers for good tower design. The engineers will return Wednesday to approve final designs. Students then will have a week or so to construct the towers.

The contest challenges students to build a 30-inch tower using less than 2 ounces of balsa wood and then test its strength by piling weights on top. By competing, students learn concepts of structural engineering along with the importance of teamwork.

The tower testing – and breaking – event will be March 6 at the school. Our engineers will be on hand to make sure the towers meet specifications and to record the amount of weight each holds.

At last year’s contest no one was able to come close to the record for weight held, which is about 180 pounds. Last year’s top weight held was 86.5 pounds.

When they’re not monitoring the capacity of students’ balsa wood structures, our Green Bay staff is checking the real thing, such as monitoring an I-43 bridge in Green Bay after settlement of one of its piers triggered closure of the bridge until repairs could be made.

For a screaming good time, check out this Green Bay Press-Gazette video of a previous tower breaking event. The reactions of the students when their towers collapse are great.

And to all of this year’s competitors: Good luck, and don’t buckle under the pressure.