Hagley students once again proved excellent bridge makers at this year's Aurecon International Bridge Building Competition.

Hagley DVC teacher, Ryszard Dybka, took three teams of three Year 10 students to Wellington for the day to compete in the 2016 Aurecon International Bridge Building Competition.

The competition involves high school students who test pre-built popsicle stick bridges in both New Zealand & Australia.

The nine student participants by team were: Popsicool (Brendan Balloch (leader), Zak Capper & Tyler Lewis), Vortex (Ethan Bushby (leader), Hamish Gray, Aidan Pascoe) and Southern Strength (Noah Fenwick (leader), Dylan Tew, and Shahanna Holley).

Team Southern Strength won “Strongest Bridge” with a staggering 253kg before their bridge broke. Team Vortex won “Most Efficient Bridge” with a weight of 242kg which is a measurement of the ratio of break weight in kilograms divided by initial bridge weight in grams. Newlands College’s bridge broke after 240kg but won best all round award.

To put our result of 253kg result into context, the strongest bridge in New Zealand has achieved over 300kg whereas in Australia the 438kg has been recorded.

Overall the 2016 wins mark the fourth consecutive year of Hagley College being placed in the top three podium places of the Aurecon regional competition and generating more than $9500 in prize money.