Build a Bridge…and get over It!

Build A Bridge...and get over it! is a 3-day Camp run by REROC in partnership with Compact Inc. It aims to encourage students in years 10 to 12 to consider a career in civil engineering. Students participate in practical, hands-on activities over the three days that allow them to experience the work that a civil engineer does.

Engineers from the REROC region mentor the students with help from Engineers from the NSW IPWEA and Transport for NSW. The Camp is held at Borambola Sport and Recreation Centre just outside of Wagga Wagga. The 2023 Camp was funded by REROC and Compact Inc. and sponsored by the NSW IPWEA, Goldenfields Water and Riverina Water.

Students who attend the Camp are drawn from across the REROC region. Numbers attending the Camp are restricted to 24 to ensure that the participating students have the best possible experience.

Students are divided into four groups on arrival, they work in these groups for the duration of the Camp. The first activities undertaken are team building exercises run by Borambola Sport and Recreation staff to help the students get to know each other.

On the first day of the Camp students participate in training sessions on topics that include soil testing, compaction testing, spatial coordinates and laser levelling. Then each group begins the work of designing a bridge which has to span a small creek.

Students build a model of their design and prepare a budget as well. Once the bridge designs are completed, they are judged by the students and the facilitator against a standard criteria, the design that scores the highest marks against the criteria is the winner.

A full-scale version of the winning design is built by the students on the third and final day. The students who designed the winning bridge act as project managers, the rest of the students are the construction team.

Typically, the extra challenge of building the bridge over water means that students have to work from kayaks to construct the full-sized bridge.

Students walk across the finished bridge at the end of the final day to collect their certificates of completion for the Camp and graduate. Parents, friends and members of REROC and Compact Inc attend the ceremony which is followed by afternoon tea.

This year the 2024 Camp will held from Monday 29 April to Wednesday 1 May. For more information contact REROC at projects@reroc.com.au

A report has been developed on the Camp starting from when it began in 2006 until the 2013 Camp. A video of the 2013 Camp is included below.