Your 2009 National Steel Bridge Competitors

University of Akron (The Zips with a nice fully tied truss, lots of members there.)

University of Alabama

Arkansas State University

University of California Berkeley (The Bears have been officially inserted as the favorites to win it all, I'm laying 2:1 odds. We are doing this thing in Vegas after all. I wonder if Imperial Palace will have NSSBC odds up for play?).

University of California Davis (With Chrome Ollie and the Cal Bears it will be tough for anyone to unseat Mid-Pac as the strongest steel bridge conference.)

California Poly State University - SLO (These guys and gal have got a nice website up as well.)

University of California - San Diego

University of Central Florida

Clemson – (It’s an old picture I know. Update that website Tigers!)

University of Colorado - Denver (Nice action shot.)

Drexel University (The Dragons go with a throwback design, a stacked beam straight very similar to something you might have seen in the early 2000's.)

Geneva College (The Golden Tornadoes will be Beaming it in Sin City.)

University of Hawaii - Manoa (They're in there somewhere, maybe or maybe not, it's 50:50)

University of Idaho

Illinois Institute of Technology

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kansas State University (Simple design, but too many bolts???)

Lafayette College (The Lafayette signature round-tube bridge.)

Lakehead University

Lawrence Technological University

Louisiana State University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Check out the MIT Blog)

University of Michigan (The return of a former powerhouse to the National Competition.)

University of Missouri-Kansas City (Another Steel-Roo trip to nationals, this time with far less alcohol consumption. Not sure if that's good or bad?)

New Jersey Institute of Technology

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Making their first ever trip to nationals!)

University of New Orleans (UNO will bring an elegant arch design. Might be the only curved structure in the field.)

North Dakota State University (Competing in the Featherweight Division. The Bison might be able to stow their bridge in the overhead.)

Old Dominion University

Seattle University (A simple truss design for the Redhawks, who continue to impress with their second Nationals appearance in their second year as a team.)

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

University of South Florida

Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville

SUNY Canton (This blogs second favorite school with a kangaroo for a mascot. Expect these Roos to be lightning fast as always.)

Texas A&M University

University of Texas - San Antonio

Texas Tech University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Washington State University

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Youngstown State University

If you're team wasn't featured here and you would like to be, send a picture SteelRoos@gmail.com

K-State Construction

Check out Kansas States Construction Run at the Mid-Continent Regionals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-hWQlhgSXk

These guys are our favorite steel bridge team, 100% student fabricated, dedicated, hard working, and the best sportsmen you'll ever find.  The wildcats brought it hard at the Mid-Con Regionals and the Steel Roos were lucky to get out with a victory.  Hope to see all 30 of you in Vegas, I'll buy you a free drink.

Here's what we know!

All 18 of the 2009 Regional Steel Bridge Competitions have gone down. Nationals are in 28 days and this is what we know so far about who's going to be there:


Carolina's - University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• 1st - Clemson (That's 14 straight national appearances)
• 2nd - ?????

Deep South - Arkansas State University

• 1st -University of New Orleans (And it was nearly a clean sweep. just missing on stiffness)
• 2nd - Louisiana State University
• 3rd - University of Memphis

Great Lakes - University of Notre Dame

• 1st - University of Wisconsin - Madison
• 2nd - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 3rd - Illinois Institute of Technology

Metropolitan - Polytechnic University of NYU

• 1st - New Jersey Institute of Technology
• 2nd - Rowan University

Mid-Atlantic - University of Delaware

• 1st - Lafayette College
• 2nd - Drexel University

Mid-Continent - Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

• 1st - University of Missouri-Kansas City (Four-Peat, barely)
• 2nd - Kansas State University
• 3rd - Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville

Mid-Pacific - University of Nevada - Reno

• 1st - University of California Berkeley (Watch out for the defending champs, they had a clean sweep in one of the traditionally toughest regions, for a second straight year).
• 2nd - Univeristy of California Davis (As if there was any doubt!)

Mid-West - North Dakota State University

• 1st - Lakehead University (The Canadians from Thunder Bay eek out the powerhouse Bison in what appears to have been a great competition.)
• 2nd - North Dakota State University

New England - Wentworth Institute of Technology

• 1st - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Check out the MIT Blog)
• 2nd - ?????

North Central - Lawrence Technological University

• 1st -Lawrence Technological University (The hosts spoil the party)
• 2nd - University of Michigan

Ohio Valley - Western Kentucky University

• 1st - University of Akron (With a very strong performance, 6 of 7 Categories)
• 2nd - Youngstown State University (Check out their Photos and Video)
• 3rd - Geneva College

Pacific Northwest - Carroll College

• 1st - Washington State University
• 2nd - Seattle University
• 3rd - University of Idaho

Pacific Southwest - University of Hawaii - Manoa

• 1st - University of Hawaii - Manoa (Capitalizing on the distinct home field advantage)
• 2nd - University of California - San Diego
• 3rd - California Poly State University - SLO

Rocky Mountain - Brigham Young University

• 1st - University of Colorado - Denver
• 2nd - South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
• 3rd - New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Making their first ever trip to nationals!)

Southeast - Vanderbilt University

• 1st - University of Central Florida
• 2nd - University of Alabama
• 3rd - University of South Florida

Texas-Mexico - Texas A&M University

• 1st - Texas A&M University
• 2nd - University of Texas - San Antonio
• 3rd - Texas Tech University

Upstate New York - SUNY at Buffalo

• 1st - SUNY Canton (As if there was any doubt, they've won 13 out of the last 15)
• 2nd - Ecole de Technologie Superieure of Montreal

Virginia's - Old Dominion University

• 1st - Virginia Tech University
• 2nd - Fairmont State University
• 3rd - Old Dominion University

This is based upon what I could piece together scouring the internet if I have something wrong or if anyone who can help fill in the rest of the results, please let me know SteelRoos@gmail.com. Congratulations to all the teams who competed and good luck to all the lucky teams heading to Vegas. Can't wait to see you all there.


P.S. - Stay tuned pictures to follow soon.
P.P.S. - Thanks to our favorite former Steel Bridge Blogger from Team Chrome Ollie for filling in some of the holes.

Wildcat Promo

Steel Willie is in with a Steel Bridge Promotional Video for 2008. Get it here:

Stay focused Steel Roos, K-State would love to "steel" the Mid-Con from us.

Best Steel Bridge Video Ever!

Or maybe I'm biased, judge for yourselves:

The Rules!!!

The rules are now out.

2009 Rules

...and it looks like the barges are back with a twist and the beam is the only bridge type. Or is it???

Travel Day

Drivers are already a day in and now only a few hours out. The rest of us are outie this evening via a Southwest Boeing 737. We'll still have a short drive from Orlando but hopefully we will be reunited with our road weary captains late this evening. Hope everyone travels safe, especially all those with a cross-country drive (don't trust those bridges to an airline or shipping company).