YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Do you have what it takes to construct a bridge? Some Mahoning and Trumbull County high school students do.

Thursday was the 14th annual Mahoning Valley Miniature Bridge Building Competition. The goal of the event was to teach students to have an appreciation for engineering and promote civil engineering as a career choice while providing the Valley’s students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to a real-world application.

Students designed and constructed a balsa wood bridge followed by load testing until failure.

“We hope they really learn about teamwork. That’s number one, and the development and the execution of their bridge designs,” said Trumbull County Deputy Engineer Gary Shaffer.

The winning bridge was chosen based on meeting the design criteria and the most efficient load-carrying capacity to structure weight ratio.