OPENABLE SPAGHETTI BRIDGES IS THE TOPIC OF THE 9TH EDITION OF "VARNA SPAGHETTI ENGINEERING"
17 November 2023
The ninth edition of the National Creative Skills Competition "Varna Spaghetti Engineering" will be held on18 and 19 November 2023. Organizer and host of the event is the Department of Construction of Buildings and Structures at Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar". The official opening is at 9:30 am on 18 November in the University's Sports Complex.
11 student teams from the leading vocational secondary schools for architecture, construction and geodesy in the country will take part in the competition. Varna will be represented by three teams, Sofia and Burgas with two each, and Veliko Tarnovo, Plovdiv, Shumen - with one each. For the first time, a team from the Vocational School of Woodworking and Construction "Tsar Ivan Asen II" from Haskovo will participate in the competition. Each of the teams will have a mentor - a student majoring in Construction of Buildings and Structures at Varna Free University. The 11 students of VFU “Chernorizets Hrabar” are in their third and fourth year and will help the teams.
The teams will compete in creating openable bridges. This time their task is further complicated, since the participants do not know in advance what the set distance between the supports of the bridge is. Teams must consider the structure on site. Competing groups will be provided with: a bridge pad with fixed abutments, polypropylene sleeves and rope to make a system to open the structure, two packages of spaghetti, 10 sticks of silicone and caulk guns for it, a protractor, a ruler, a model knife and three hours to create your model.
According to the competition regulations, the opening of the bridge must be done by the rope, and the structure will be tested with weights. The winner will be the bridge that bears the greatest load or remains intact after the load. The jury will evaluate the contestants according to three criteria: load-bearing capacity, economy of the materials used and attractiveness. The presentation of the teams to the jury and the audience will carries special weight. After the presentation, the students will load the spaghetti bridges themselves.
The jury includes representatives of the Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design, the Chamber of Builders in Bulgaria, the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria, the design company Amata&Co and representatives of the Faculty of Architecture at VFU “Chernorizets Hrabar.
The Varna Spaghetti Engineering National Competition is one of the most successful formats for provoking the unconventional thinking and imagination of young people. As an organizer and host, the Department of Construction of Buildings and Structures of Varna Free University wishes to bring together students from vocational secondary schools, students of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" and professionals from the construction industry for the creation of unique building constructions from spaghetti, provoking creativity, ingenuity, team spirit and at the same time develops their interest in the construction profession. The competition team is the winner of the prestigious Varna award.