On Saturday morning, March 19, 2011, at Widener University in Chester, Pa., the Eastern Pennsylvania & Delaware Chapter sponsored its Annual Student Beam Competition for the 26th time.  Teams of not less than two nor more than five undergraduate students enrolled at any university or college with no geographical restrictions were eligible to compete for the $3,000 in prizes given to the winners.  The beam specimen had to fit into a 40” x 5.5” x 2.5” envelope reinforced with at least one but no more than two steel #4 reinforcing bars 39” long.  The concrete mix could contain any nonmetallic aggregate, or chemical admixture, but no cementitious materials other than portland cement, blended hydraulic cement, ground granulated slag, fly ash, or silica fume.  The use of chemical admixtures, including superplasticizers, was optional.  The beam could contain no more than 7.5 pounds of cementitious material and no fibers of any kind were permitted.  This year a "Green Concrete Bonus" was applied for the amount of portland cement used less than the 7.5 pound maximum.

The students gained insights on the effects of tolerances in beam fabrication, as well as concrete mix technology and structural design parameters.  It was the mission of the chapter to challenge the ingenuity of the students and to foster communication and involvement among students, faculty and industry.

It always has been traditional for the Chapter President and other representatives of the chapter to be present to act as judges.  Some material suppliers donated concrete mix ingredients.  ACI International now holds a similar competition -- patterned very closely after ours -- during its fall convention.

Student Beam Competition Event Participants from the 2011 competition are shown above.

The students gain insights on the effects of tolerances in beam fabrication as well as concrete mix technology, and structural design parameters.  It is the mission of the Chapter to challenge the ingenuity of the students and to foster communication and involvement among students, faculty, and industry.

It has always been traditional for the Chapter President and other representatives of the Chapter to be present to act as judges.  Some material suppliers have donated concrete mix ingredients.  ACI National now holds a similar competition during their Fall Conventions which was patterned very closely after ours.

From Left: Myrick, Hobbs, Davidson, and D'Allesandro

The $1,500 prize for the highest ultimate load to beam weight ratio after adjusting for the green concrete bonus was awarded to the 2011 University of Delaware team of Richard Hobbs, Steven Myrick, Anthony D'Allesandro, and Kent Davidson during the March Dinner Meeting program.

From Left: Agostinelli, Hejnas, and Cubukcu

The $1,500 prize for the most accurate prediction of load at 1/4" deflection was awarded to the 2011 Widener University "Legends" team of Anthony Agostinelli, Charles Evans, Jon Cubukcu, and Vanessa Hejnas, whose prediction varied from the actual load by only 3.0%, during the March Dinner Meeting program.