Carleton places 3rd in APT competition and wins best structural analysis

A team from Carleton placed 3rd in the international competition put on by the Association of Preservation Technologists (APT). They also won the award for best structural analysis. Master’s student and team leader, Natalie Smith, also won the PETC award for most promising preservationist.

As part of the APT National Trust Conference, teams of students are challenged to analyze, design, construct, and test a model of a historic timber bridge in a similar style to covered wooden bridges popular in the 19th century in North America. The competition aims to introduce students to the building techniques used in historic structures and engage with industry professionals.

Because the October 2020 conference was held virtually in Edmonton, Alberta, the construction and testing of the bridge had to be done on the Carleton University campus. In addition to the design-build portion of the competition, the team participated in workshops with engineers, wood scientists, artisans, and many other experienced wood preservationists to learn about the practical aspects of wood preservation . They also presented their bridge design, responding to questions about the preservation problems that were given to each team at the beginning of the conference.

The team wishes to express thanks for the support of our faculty mentor, Ahmed Hassan, industry mentors, John Cooke and Gerry Zegerius, as well as all the support staff who helped us build our bridge in the Carleton lab.