From left, SUNY Canton students Jonathan Tennant of Ogdensburg, Nathan A. Archer of Canton and Alex D. Sterling of Champlain assembling this year's steel bridge entry.

CANTON – SUNY Canton students earned a third place finish in a regional steel bridge competition.

Canton’s American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter, students in the school’s Canino School of Engineering Technology, took third in an ASCE Upstate Regional Conference by designing their bridge to be assembled faster than their competitors’ entries.

Overall, the team won first in speed, third in lightness, fifth in stiffness, third in aesthetics, first in economy and fifth in efficiency.

"The students assembled their bridge structure in 4.57 minutes, whereas the next-fastest entry completed theirs in 11.97 minutes," said Paul D. Hitchman, the faculty advisor to the team and an instructional support associate at the school.

Of the 50 teams that competed, they were only topped by École de technologie supérieure in Montreal and SUNY Buffalo."

The SUNY Canton team finished ahead of Clarkson University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse University and other rivals.

The ASCE issues a set of rules for the competition designed to challenge young engineers, and the students then design a steel bridge to best fit the guidelines. Typically, the contest asks colleges to create a bridge that can be constructed on-site and span a body of water, necessitating calculated assembly techniques and precision manufacturing.

"We knew going in that we wanted to be fast so we designed all of our connections to be quick," according to bridge designer Codi D. McKee, a civil and environmental technology major. "We calculated the amount of time needed and used the fewest number of bolts we could to hold it together."

The students have now been invited to compete in the national competition on May 22 at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Other members of the team were:

Nathan A. Archer, an Industrial Technology major from Canton.

Michael Crowner, a Civil and Environmental Technology major from Gouverneur.

Gregory R. Denner, a Civil and Environmental Technology major from Ogdensburg.

Zachery S. Limoges, a Civil and Environmental Technology major from Ogdensburg.

Jonathan Tennant, a SUNY Canton Engineering Science major from Ogdensburg.

Joseph D. Thompson, a Civil and Environmental Technology major from Edwards.

Numerous faculty and staff members assist the team, including:

Dennis E. Tuper, an instructional support associate for the Automotive Technology program.

Neil A. Haney, an instructional support associate for the Powersports Performance and Repair program.

Daniel J. Miller, an assistant professor for the Mechanical Engineering Technology program.