On April 23, the final of NCUT’s 15th Load-Bearing Capacity Competition, hosted by the University Youth League Committee and organized by the School of Civil Engineering, was held at the Cultural Hall. Song Xiaoruan, Vice Dean of the School of Civil Engineering; Feng Shaojie, Deputy Secretary of the School Party Committee; Li Yue, Head of the Department of Mechanics and Urban Underground Space Engineering; faculty representatives Zhang Junhui and Fang Liang; Jin Lei, Secretary of the School Youth League Committee; and more than 100 students attended the event. Student representatives from Gucheng Middle School were also specially invited to take part in the competition.

Song Xiaoruan extended a warm welcome to Geng Ningbo and the delegation from Gucheng Middle School, and expressed the School’s willingness to continue exchanges and cooperation. She noted that the Load-Bearing Capacity Competition, as a traditional disciplinary competition of the University’s Science Festival, has long upheld the principle of promoting learning through competition. The event aims to stimulate students’ interest in mechanics, strengthen their professional identity, and cultivate innovation, practical ability and teamwork, thereby contributing to the School’s academic culture.

In this competition, teams were required to use designated materials such as A4 printing paper and ordinary glue, and to apply knowledge of theoretical mechanics, mechanics of materials and structural mechanics to design and build a paper bridge model. The bridge had to be at least 9 cm high, no less than 8 cm wide, span at least 21 cm, and weigh no more than 90 g. Teams also needed to complete mechanical analysis and an on-site load-bearing test. The competition attracted 64 teams and 193 participants from across the university. After the preliminary round, nine teams advanced to the final.

During the project presentation session, the paper bridge designs showed ingenuity and creativity. The load-bearing test was intense and exciting, with cheers and applause breaking out as weights were added step by step. After two rounds of evaluation, including project presentation and load-bearing testing, the team of Mu Zaixiang, Xie Weijian and Mao Junxi won the championship with a bridge that carried 50 kg and achieved the highest overall score. Wang Yuhan from Gucheng Middle School, who participated as a specially invited contestant, won third prize in his first appearance in the competition.

The judges provided detailed comments on each team’s work in terms of design creativity, mechanical performance and structural optimization. While recognizing the strengths of the projects, they also offered professional suggestions for further improvement.