As part of the 2017 Qatar Sustainable Week, Engineers Australia Qatar Chapter and Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) joined forces to organize the first-ever Bridge Building Competition in the country.
Qatar Sustainability Week, an initiative by QGBC aims to further engage the community in a wide range of sustainability-oriented activities. This initiative plays a crucial role in raising awareness among the wider community. Qatar Sustainability Week attracted more than 10,000 members of the public attending over 100 events held across Qatar.
This event was open to all community members including professionals and students. It required teams to be creative and to construct a bridge with the minimal materials acknowledging sustainability week. The bridge should span 2.5m without failing while carrying a load. Bridges could reflect the technical, functional and aesthetic categories for the awards.
The competition took place at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) on Saturday, 4th of November 2017. Twelve teams participated in the event representing different reputable engineering and academic organizations.
More than 70 engineers, architects, teachers and doctors attended this event with their family members. Teams from Aspire Academy, AECOM, Worley Parsons, Architecture and Planning Group, Cundall, Arcadis, HBK Contracting and the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati competed to construct a bridge using given materials.
The competition commenced by an introduction from Mr Mustafa Adra (President of Engineers Australia - Qatar Chapter) who welcomed the participants and talked about the objectives of the event, sustainability and the continuous collaboration of EA and QGBC.
Then, Mr Mustafa El Cherkawi (Vice President of Engineers Australia - Qatar Chapter), organizer of the event, presented the guidelines, rules and judging criteria. Mustafa was previously part of participating in this same event for many years in Sydney. The teams were then given 2 hours and 45 minutes to build their bridges. The event was monitored by Qatar committee members.
Mr Ahmad Al Jolo, President of the Federation of Arab Engineers and Chairman of Qatar Society of Engineers (QSE) attended the event and was part of the judging panel. Mr Meshal Al Shamari, Director of QGBC also attended the event. Mr Al Shamari is dedicated to leading QGBC towards building a culture of sustainability for Qatar and the region by promoting and raising awareness of environmentally and socially responsible building practices among the industry and the public.
Teams competed on 3 prize categories and were awarded from the 12 teams based on the following:
The first prize for the lightest bridge capable of supporting the highest load (Environmental Engineers Perspective) was awarded to Cundall - Brunel Or Not team with the maximum capacity and self-weight ratio of 7.73.
The second prize for the bridge capable of supporting the heaviest load regardless its weight or mass (Structural Engineers Perspective) was awarded to Aspire Academy - Aspire 1 Team who built a bridge that carried 9.5 kg without failing.
The third prize for the bridge judged to be the most aesthetically appealing (Architects Perspective) was awarded to Cundall - Golden Gate Team who were innovative and creative presenting a unique design.
Qatar TV covered the event and the competition was reported the following day on Qatar TV during a program called “During the Morn” (Season 5 - episode 461 – 05/11/2015). Please see the below link (from 48:00 min - 52:00 min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyfM4_DHusk&app=desktop
“Our success of such an event begins with a firm commitment from our committee members coupled with the local community who value innovation within the engineering profession. It is also important to recognise the role of our partner, the QGBC, for promoting this event during the sustainability awareness week in Qatar.”
— Mustafa Adra, President of Engineers Australia Qatar Chapter
To view photos from the event, please visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/engineersaustralia/albums/72157687441267022