HANNIBAL – Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) has recently been prevalent in local schools. STEM’s purpose is to familiarize students and encourage them to pursue occupations within these fields of study. The new Champ Clark Bridge team, made up of engineers from the Missouri Department of Transportation, Illinois Department of Transportation, and Massman Construction Company, invited students from area schools to a competition to design an interpretive panel to help preserve the historic bridge that is being replaced.
A public ceremony will be held on Wednesday, April 18 from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Twin Pike Family YMCA located at 614 Kelly Lane in Louisiana, MO. All of the teams’ designs will be showcased at the ceremony, and the winning panel design and team will be announced.
“Students from area high schools are working in teams to design an interpretive panel using some element of the existing bridge,” explained MoDOT Resident Engineer Brandi Baldwin, P.E. Schools participating include Louisiana, Bowling Green, Pike Lincoln Technical Center, Pittsfield and Hannibal. The winning team’s panel will be created and featured in the community upon completion of demolition of the existing bridge.
“We wanted to incorporate the history of the old bridge in some creative way with the new Champ Clark Bridge, and we thought what better way is there to do that than to create a contest using our talented local students,” explained Baldwin.
For more information, contact MoDOT's Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK MoDOT (275-6636). You can also visit us online at www.modot.org/northeast.