AASHTO Journal - WVDOT Names Winners of 2025 Bridge Design & Build Contest

The West Virginia Department of Transportation recently named the student winners of its 24th Annual West Virginia Bridge Design and Build Contest; an event hosted by the West Virginia University Institute of Technology on April 2 at its Beckley, WV, campus.

[Above photo by WVDOT]

“The purpose of this competition is to introduce West Virginia’s students to the field of engineering and let them know there are good jobs available in our state,” explained Jennifer Dooley, WVDOT’s public relations division director, in a statement. “WVDOT is always hiring engineers, technicians, and bridge inspectors as well as a wide variety of career types.”

The agency said 41 middle and high school students, split into 26 teams – some of which were solo teams – participated in the event’s software and balsa wood bridge competitions; contests centered on science, technology, engineering and mathematics or “STEM” skill sets.

[Editor’s note: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials hosts a similar national competition at its annual spring meeting. Click here for a look at the 2024 AASHTO Bridge Challenge event.]

Eastern Greenbrier Middle School swept the top three spots in the Balsa Wood competition, with Arabella Webb taking first place, Emma Vincent and Ellie Burns finishing second and Jayce Bush and Brysan Hamrick taking third.

In the High School Division, Princeton Senior’s Aiden Miller claimed the top prize followed by Ethan Coleman and Parker Worline (from Putnam Career and Technical Center) in second place and Larry Du and Maxwell Chen (Morgantown High School) in third place.

The software competition saw repeat winners with Larry Du and Maxwell Chen designing the lowest-cost bridge in the high school division and Emma Vincent and Ellie Burns following suit in the middle school competition.

Behind them, James Ludig (Oak Hill High School) and Rebecca Chen and Emily Gu (Suncrest Middle School) finished second and Connor Atkins and Lucas Messenger (East Fairmont High School) and Laura Du and Riya Zinn (Suncrest Middle School) came in third.

WVDOT noted that its STEM-based competition is entirely free to all high school and middle school students in the state, as it is part of WVDOT’s commitment to finding the next generation of engineers. WVDOT said it also has scholarships, co-ops and other opportunities to help “bridge” the gap between school and work for engineers.