The Annual West Virginia Bridge Design & Build Competition drew students from across the state to the WVU Tech Beckley campus on Saturday, April 18, 2026. The event saw a significant surge in engagement this year, with 29 schools participating, including 15 schools new to the competition. Middle and high school students traveled from 18 counties across West Virginia to compete in two distinct challenges.
The Bridge Design & Build Contest is an annual engineering competition designed for all West Virginia students in grades 6 through 12, including those in public, private, and homeschool settings. The contest is sponsored by WVU Tech, The WVDOT, and West Virginia Department of Education.
WVDOT officials emphasized the long-term positive impact of the contest on young participants.
“You never know when you’re making a real impact, but former participants have reached out telling us how it’s changed the course of their life,” said Ryland Musick, WVDOT District 10 Engineer and judge at the event.
Students competed in the finals event, which involves both a physical balsa wood building contest and a software design component, after advancing from a qualifying round where they focused on creating the most cost-effective design that passes a load test. Top performers in both categories can win between $100 and $500, with every finalist guaranteed a prize.The two main categories at the finals event were:- Digital Contest: Participants used a special program to solve problems in real time, aiming to build the most cost-effective bridge design that could successfully withstand a load test.
- Physical Contest: Teams focused on constructing a Balsa wood bridge and having it withstand as much weight as possible, which was applied in the form of sand.
Hussein Elkhansa, WVDOT chief technology officer, highlighted the dedication of the students. "These kids are coming back year after year and participating," he said. Some students begin competing in middle school and come back every year through high school.
Larry Du, a junior from Morgantown High School and a second-place winner in the high school software competition, has participated in the competition for three years and plans to return again next year. “It’s really cool to see all the different bridges everyone’s built,” he said.
His younger sister, Laura Du, and her teammate, Riya Zinn, placed first in the middle school software competition and have been attending the event since sixth grade. This their third year in the competition.
The increase in participation this year resulted from recruitment efforts by county engineers across the state, as well as presentations given by students at the West Virginia Science Teachers Association conference to raise awareness of the competition. The participation brought in 15 new schools across six new counties and an overall increase of 34 student participants this year.
Congratulations to all the participants and especially the winners of this year's competition!
Digital Competition (Software):- High School: First place was awarded to Emma Vincent and Ellie Burns of Greenbrier East High School. Larry Du and Maxwell Chen of Morgantown High School took second place, and Connor Atkins and Lucas Messenger of East Fairmont High School placed third. Vincent and Burns previously won first place in the Middle School Software Division in 2024 and 2025.
- Middle School: Laura Du and Riya Zinn from Suncrest Middle School took first place. Second place went to Arabella Webb of Eastern Greenbrier Middle School, followed by Jaxen Gray of Romney Middle School in third place.
Physical Competition (Balsa Wood):- High School: Connor Atkins and Lucas Messenger of East Fairmont High School secured first place. Larry Du of Morgantown High School took second place, and Layla Farmer of Pikeview High School placed third.
- Middle School: Arabella Webb of Eastern Greenbrier Middle School won first place. This marks Webb's third consecutive year winning the middle school Balsa Wood division. Lucia Lipton and Sal Marks of Eastern Greenbrier Middle School placed second, and Laura Du and Riya Zinn of Suncrest Middle School placed third.
Laura Du and Riya Zinn, who won first place in the middle school software competition and third place in the balsa wood competition, shared their experience with both contests.
“It’s hard because you want to pour it fast enough that you can get enough sand in, but if you pour too fast you overwhelm it,” said Zinn, an eighth grader at Suncrest Middle School. “You have to go at the perfect speed”.
“I think this was definitely our best balsa bridge; we actually figured out designs and did a proper template and everything,” said Du, also an eighth grader at Suncrest Middle School. She said that she enjoys the collaborative aspect: “I like the atmosphere and just hanging out with her (Zinn), it’s really fun!”
