This Saturday, ABCD Board Director Austin Chudyk took part in judging the Future City competition held at Mt. St. Mary Academy in Kenmore, NY and awarded one team our "Best Bridge Design" award. Several teams of grade-schoolers included bridges as a part of their ideal "future city" and integrated into their conceptual designs several real-life innovative features (along with possible creative future technologies) derived from their extensive research into currently emerging technologies. Great job to all who participated (it was hard to narrow down the winner)!
TEAM 5- Mill Middle School- "Renatus" City - WINNING BRIDGE!
Notable Features: Consists of a suspended bridge to span a large river, harnesses electricity to help power the city via solar cells within the pavement (along with devices that capture friction from tires and converts it into electricity), utilizes smart monitoring systems to detect high stress, structural damage, and emergency conditions, has ample lighting for safety, is mixed-use (pedestrians/bikes/cars), and contains nesting areas for birds.
TEAM 1- Cleveland Hill Middle School- "Ciudad del Sol"
Notable Features: Consists of an elevated tube-style hyperloop passenger train that directly connects all city sectors, utilizing alloy metal construction to prevent corrosion and elongate the life of the bridge.
TEAM 4- Heim Middle School- "Crescere" City
Notable Features: Consists of an elevated hyperloop passenger train, and also facilitates pedestrian passage below it utilizing high-strength graphene pier supports made from recycled plastic.
TEAM 7- Transit Middle School- "Stratum" City
Notable Features: Consists of a titanium truss bridge strong enough to survive a nuclear event within the city and durable enough to grant longevity, utilizes an eco-friendly paint coating, is mixed-use (pedestrians/bikes/cars), and has an end-of-life-cycle plan: reuse (not disposal!) of components in future city needs.
TEAM 8- Transit Middle School- "Shanghai"
Notable Features:
"Modified" Suspension Bridge: consists of a mixed-use (pedestrians/bikes/cars) suspension bridge spanning a large river that utilizes high-strength carbon-fiber cables to eliminate the corrosion that is typical of traditional steel cables, is built to allow unimpeded boat navigation in the river below.
Elevated Hyperloop: connects passengers to both sides of the city over the river while also reducing emissions from local traffic, and utilizes a special polymer protective coating to prevent corrosion and increase bridge longevity.
All materials required for both bridges are sourced locally from mines deep below the city.
TEAM 11- St. Peter's Roman Catholic School- "Sin Fuego" City
Notable Features: Consists of strong, sleek, and durable cable-stayed bridges on either side of the city, is mixed-use (pedestrians/bikes/cars), is constructed locally, and pedestrian paths are outfitted with special pavers that generate electricity under footstep that helps power the city.
TEAM 14- Mill Middle School- "Amal City"
Notable Features:
Glass Pedestrian Bridges: Consists of floor-to-roof glass panels that provide pedestrians spectacular views while walking to adjacent campus buildings. These glass panels would be designed for safe capacity, can adjust their tint to reduce solar heating effects (thus reducing air conditioning demand), and conceivably have built-in translucent solar cells to capture energy. Additionally, these bridges would be sized for multi-use purposes (such as having additional learning spaces on the bridges).
Movable Pedestrian Bridge: Consists of a steel girder bascule-style pedestrian bridge that connects pedestrian trails across the river, allowing boat passage and offering pedestrians views of the adjacent harbor.
Both bridges would have plans in place that mandate frequent safety inspections.
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