BRIDGE RESISTANCE CONTEST

quel exploit technique digne des pyramides

CONTEST OBJECTIVES:

Building the most resistant 100 studs long bridge.

GENERAL RULES

1- CONTESTANTS

 This contest is open to all members of participating LUGs in LEGOWorld (LW), Zwolle.
 Individual contest registrations are done at LUG level and send by each LUG.
 Number of contestants is limited to 20.

2- CATEGORIES

There is no different categories.

3- REGISTRATION DATES

Registration will end on October 20^th of 2005 unless the limit of 20 contestants is reached before. In that case, the 20 first registered contestant are selected.

4- REGISTRATION PROCESS

Registration forms are to be send to the following address: legoworld@freelug.org
before the 18^th of October 2005.
Registration could also be done at FreeLUG’s stand after LW opening.

5- REGISTRATION FEE

There’s no fee to enter the contest.

6- JURY

A panel of 3 judges will check that all contestants respect the rules and insure smoothness of the contest.
This panel will have 3 non contestants judges.
 One judge will be selected by FreeLUG.
 One judge will be selected by Debouwsteen.
 One judge will be selected by one of the LUGs involved in the contest. This LUG will be ramdomly selected the 20^th of October and then select his judge.

A good knowledge of English is needed to be judge.

The Jury will:

1. check break period requested by the contestant
2. measure weight binding period of time (1 min)
3. make sure that each bridge is made with authorized parts (no modified LEGO part or non LEGO part).
4. Evaluate bridge design compliance to a real bridge design.

7- CONTEST EXCLUSION

Contestants can be excluded of the contest if:
 The bridge does not fit all the technical requirements.
 Contestant does not follow friendship and fair-play rules.

The jury’s decisions can’t be contested

If the contestant is excluded for the contest for technical reasons, he could attend the contest without being rated. He will not receive a diploma.

8- CONTEST SCHEDULE

The contest will take place the 22^nd of October 2005 in the evening. Exact schedule will be set in LW.

9- AWARDS

 The first 3 winners will receive a trophy.
 All contestants will receive a diploma.
 2 extra awards will be given:

• Best or most audacious bridge design
• Best or most audacious bridge technical design

Awards board will be published on Lugnet.

10- CONTEST PROCEDURE

 Each contestant will have 5 minutes to install his bridge including binding weight.
 After the weight stress test, he will have 3 minutes to remove the bridge from the test area.
 During these 2 periods, the contestant could be helped by a maximum of 3 persons.

Contestants’ order will be ramdomly choosen by the jury before beginning of the contest.

TECHNICAL RULES

RULES

 The bridge steps over a trench.
 The bridge just lays. No binding system is allowed (screw, clamp etc..)
 Distance to step over is 100 studs (800 mm).
 Bridge will be wide enough (10 studs) to hold LEGO train tracks.
 Height is 12 studs minimum. Height above track is free.
 Difference of height between deck’s center and deck’s end is 2% maximum (16 mm).
 The whole bridge height is free.
 Only non modified LEGO parts are allowed.
 Use of glue is strictly forbidden.
 The built bridge must have the general shape of a real bridge (proportions and design).

WEIGHT

 The bridge must have a attach point(a place to hold the weight).
 It must allow tha attachment of a 5mm diameter string. Train must be able to run on the tracks while weight is attached to the bridge.
 Each contestant is responsible for string attachment.
If the attach failed before beginning of contest, it’s allowed up to 3 tries.
 If the attach failed during contest, the bridge is considered broken.
 Testing system allows bridge stress tests up to 50 kg.
 The bridge must endure the weight for one minute.
If the bridge breaks within this minute, result of the test will be lowered by 5%.
 The contestant chooses himself the weight to test.
 Test breaks can be asked by the contestant to check the bridge for a maximum of 1 minute 30 sec. Changes can be applied but it’s not allowed to add extra bricks.
 Weigth stress will be increased progressively.
 Maximum laps of time to go from 0 to 50 kg will be 3 minutes.
 Contestant or one of his helpers will initiate the weight test.

ROPES AND STRINGS

 Non LEGO ropes and strings are allowed with a maximum diameter of 1mm.
 Binding system must be identical to the LEGO one (round plate 1x1 4073). Rope can also be binded to non modified LEGO parts.
 Plates can be drilled by contestant in order to preserve LEGO ropes. (this is the only exception to the no-modified-parts rule)
 Recommended rope color is black ropes to keep a realistic design. But it is not compulsory.

LIFT DECK BRIDGES

We want to encourage contestants to be imaginative and audacious.
If a contestant chooses to build a lift deck bridge (lift, swing, sliding) he will credited of 50% of the weight
binded to his bridge. In that case, the time spent to bind the weight won’t be included in the installation time.

Lift deck mechanism must be electrical, pneumatic or manual. But not by a direct action from the contestant.

The non moving parts of the lift deck bridge can be fixed to the table using clamp. These clamps must be removed before starting weight test.

WINNERS

 The most resistant bridge wins.
If several bridges win, the final winner is the lighter one.
If two or more winner bridges have the same weight, the final winner will be the one with the smallest number of bricks.

5- ANNEXES

PLAN DU BANC D’ESSAIS