The evening was held in the Reflections dining room of Okanagan University College (KLO campus) and a wonderful dinner was served by the cooking students.

Following dinner Al Popoff (PEng, Manager, Kelowna Office, Hamilton Associates, Engineering and Planning Consultants) presented a slide show entitled "Rails with Trails." This is an initiative by the city of Kelowna to provide an easy access bicycle route from Okanagan Lake up to Winfield. This path is planned to follow along the railroad tracks that are already present through the city.

It was the 19th annual event and we not only sponsored but we supplied a judge for the competition and he was me (Matt). The event was in conjunction with an open house at the campus so there were allot of spectators this year which was great.

There are categories right from elementary schools through high school and to the college level. The event is an international affair as it attracts competitors as far away as Holland. The Bridges that came in first and second were from the Dutch group who have a similar event in their home town with rules based on the Okanagan rules. One of the prizes is a trip to Canada to compete in this event.

The abbreviated rules are quite simple. You need to construct a bridge out of spaghetti and glue to hold a weight of 2kg for 5 minutes. Of the bridges that can do this it is the lightest bridge that wins. This year the winning bridge weighed 109 grams.

There are a few other rules such as the deck has to be made out of lasagna noodles and be at least 5cm wide. There are also limitations on the total height and height above and below the deck.

There was a group class where each group was given the noodles and glue and they had 3 hours to plan and construct their bridge. (photo with all the tables).

It was a lot of fun and the participants really got into the event.

Matt Cameron, P.Eng.