Kincorth Academy Builds Bridges with Petrofac

Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, has hosted its annual bridge building competition for pupils of Kincorth Academy, the school which it has supported for ten years through an education-industry partnership.

The pupils put their engineering skills to the test by constructing bridges to be load tested by judges from Petrofac Facilities Management. First-year pupils were divided into five teams and over a school term each team was challenged to design and build 300mm long, balsa wood bridges. Petrofac provided the materials and the bridges were built under the guidance of the school’s technical department.

The bridges were judged by an expert panel at Petrofac’s Bridge View office, taking into account design, presentation and build quality. During the judging the bridges were set up on a purpose-built test stand and their structures were subjected to an increasing load test by adding weights to a bucket suspended from the bridge.

The Business Games Winners’ shield was presented to the winning team of Hollie Smith, Jack Donaldson and Ricki Kilgour, as their structure withheld the greatest weight of 37.5kg.

Head teacher of Kincorth Academy, Hugh Bryce, said: “The opportunity to work in close proximity with professional engineers at Petrofac Facilities Management is a great experience for the pupils as it provides an invaluable insight into the industry. The competition is very challenging and the pupils have shown tremendous enthusiasm and worked extremely hard.”

Petrofac’s vice president for operations management, Steve Bullock, said: “Petrofac's annual bridge building competition is always a technically rewarding and fun-filled event for all those involved.

“This year we celebrate ten years of our education-industry partnership with Kincorth Academy and this competition is one of the many initiatives we have supported. The partnership has not only benefited pupils and teachers at the school, but has given Petrofac staff the opportunity to provide significant support to the local community.”