Western Kentucky University's steel bridge building team poses with their bridge at the 2017 National Steel Bridge Competition held May 25 and 26 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.  

Western Kentucky University civil engineering students took home a first place for the best looking bridge at the 2016 National Student Steel Bridge Competition on May 27 and 28 at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. 

Over 3,000 civil engineering students from across the nation and world including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China built over 223 steel bridges. 

WKU finished third in a regional qualifier, earning a spot at the national competition. At the National Steel Bridge Competition, WKU finished 37th overall.

But WKU finished 1st in the nation for the best looking bridge, which was a red curved arch truss bridge. WKU was the only school at the national competition to utilized curved steel members in the bridge to form a large arch. WKU also won the Student Choice Award at the national competition. This award is chosen by the students who attend the national competition. 

This is the fourth consecutive trip to the national competition.

“This year the students wanted to design and fabricate a beautiful and stunning red curved arch steel truss bridge. With patience and dedication, mission accomplished,” adviser Dr. Shane Palmquist said. “This is the first time the WKU Steel Bridge team has built a curved arch bridge. Their efforts were rewarded at the national competition where the judges unanimously voted that the WKU steel bridge was the best looking bridge in the nation. I am proud of their accomplishment this year.” 

Steel bridge team members include: team tri-captains James Thomason and Drake Riley, both of Bowling Green, Daniel Hammer of Tompkinsville, Caitlin Brown of Hartford; Colton Dorris of Clarksville, Tenn., Jessica Collins of Somerset; Taylor McMurtry of Hendersonville, Tenn., Cory Smith of Whitesville, Lacey Martin of Glasgow, Sarah Hay of Louisa, Jacob Cornett of Cumberland, and Nathan Hughes, Franklyn Perez, and Fahad Alhumaid, all from Bowling Green.