GOING TO GREAT HEIGHTS – BLATNIK BRIDGE RESEARCH

The University of Minnesota Duluth is evaluating the load capacity of the Blatnik Bridge.
Furthermore, they are testing the sizes of the trucks that can drive over it and the impacts
in terms of long-term fatigue. Some students and professors were sent to do the work as
part of their internship program. Additionally, they are working together with a private
engineering firm called “WSP”. Moreover, the students, both undergraduate and
graduate students were the ones who created and started the plan in evaluating the
bridge. In line with this, the students prepared themselves before doing the actual work
to lessen or to avoid the problems. Also, they organized the ways from the planning until
doing the evaluation. Accordingly, it is a gigantic help when you put your own hands
and feet on to something because you can gather data that a classroom experience
cannot give. In addition, having internship or On-the-Job Training are helping students to
elaborate the knowledge they have learned inside the classroom. They are able to apply
their knowledge thus; they are learning more in terms of what to do and not to do.
Furthermore, it is also a great opportunity to learn more outside of the class and to go
deeper with what they have learned in the class. Moreover, it is an opportunity to reach
more in the field, especially in Engineering because it is a mile away from the pictures
and drawing to the actual field work. In conclusion, having research and field work in our
course are causing positive impact in such a way that it gives us new opportunities to
learn, to apply our knowledge, to craft, to help, to communicate, to test our capabilities
and capacities, to be open and most especially to enjoy the field that we chose to face.

Reference:

UMNDuluth. (2018). Going to great heights – Blatnik bridge research. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znrCP5rHd8s&feature=youtu.be