SANRAL Hosts Successful Bridge Building Competition in Gqeberha

The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) recently hosted an exciting Bridge Building Competition for Grade 11 and Grade 12 learners at Labco in Struandale, Gqeberha. The event brought together 27 enthusiastic learners from 12 schools within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality and one from Paterson in the Sundays River Valley Municipality.

Organized in collaboration with Incubating Great Engineering Minds (iGEMS), the competition aimed to ignite a passion for engineering among the students. Thirty-five learners, selected from maths and science classes, participated in the event. The challenge required them to design and construct a bridge from wooden pieces, which was then tested for strength and stability using weights.

Tronél Candiotes-Strydom, a professional Civil Engineering Technologist with GIBB Consulting Engineers, has facilitated the competition since its inception in 2015. After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the competition resumed, much to the delight of all involved.

“I’m an external assistant for iGEMS,” said Candiotes-Strydom. “I get involved with the civil engineering aspects of the competition because I’m in the industry. What I like about the programme is working with a small group of kids to expose them to what a future in Civil Engineering could look like. I was so surprised the first time I got involved, that most of them are prefects, head boys, and head girls in their schools. The excitement from SANRAL’s side is getting involved in molding the future of the learners and giving back to the community.”

Candiotes-Strydom emphasized teamwork and creativity, encouraging the learners to work together and see the fun side of engineering. “We give them the basic building material and tell them that we are going to build this bridge together and test it. The main learning outcome is the realization of what could be created with very little resources,” she explained.

The iGEMS Education-to-Employment Programme, run by the Unity in Africa Foundation, aims to increase the number of technical and engineering graduates from disadvantaged communities in the Nelson Mandela Metro and place them in permanent employment. This initiative is vital for both the region and South Africa’s economic development.

SANRAL’s Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator, Michelle Ah Shene, expressed the agency’s excitement at the growth and development of the programme over the past nine years. “The scholars have developed in a way that they could use these skills in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) as a foundation for future careers. We are therefore looking forward to the future involvement of SANRAL in this programme,” said Ah Shene.

The highlight of the competition was the testing of the seven bridges built by the learners. Despite some bridges collapsing within seconds, the event was a testament to the students’ ingenuity and teamwork. The first prize went to the team “The Forward Thinkers,” who scored 68.6 points. Lungile Masimini from Ethembeni Enrichment Centre, a member of the winning team, highlighted the importance of cooperation in achieving their victory.

“I didn’t come with the mentality that ‘last year I did this so everybody should listen to me’. I gave my team space to think for themselves, and there was dedication amongst us. In the end, teamwork made us the winners,” Masimini said.

The learners were given four hours to build their bridges, and for the first time since 2015, no penalties were issued for not following the engineering brief. The success of this year’s competition has set a high standard for future events, promising a bright future for aspiring engineers in the region.