One of the last places you may want to find yourself is dangling from a rope over the frigid waters of Whitemud Creek on a crisp fall day in Alberta. However, that is where over 60 NAIT students found themselves on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 27.
Four student teams composed of members from NAIT’s Construction Engineering Technology Student Club (CETSC) and Civil Engineering Society, and two industry teams from PCL and JEN COL competed in NAIT’s 50th annual Gary Stroich Rope Bridge Building Competition.
The competition involves two teams of 15 people racing to establish a rope suspension bridge used to traverse the width of the creek located in Edmonton’s river valley.
The competing students must complete 30 successful crossings. The challenge also requires a roundtrip across the bridge with two members transporting an eight-foot-long, 40-pound bundle of dunnage — essentially a big bundle of insulation.
The teams are racing for the best time and must complete the required crossings within 30 minutes to qualify for the final race. The winning team earns the Challenger Cup and bragging rights for the remainder of the school year. The PCL and JEN COL teams kicked off the competition, setting the example for the student teams to follow.
Riley Doyle, President of CETSC and a second-year student has participated in the event twice now. Both times he was a Team Captain.
“This whole event is based on teamwork. It’s crucial. If you’re not talking to each other, you’re not going to do well,” said Doyle.
“Any event you can go to where you can communicate and build relationships, that’s what construction is. It’s all about building relationships and talking to people.”
His sentiments regarding teamwork are undeniable to any of the many spectators that arrived to watch and cheer on the competing teams.
The event also provides a unique opportunity for students to meet and network with active industry professionals. “It’s a chance to meet industry, see that they are only people, build some relationships,” said Ken Williams, the Chair of the Construction Engineering Technology program.
“It’s just a team building event, but it brings into consideration their project planning, their execution, their teamwork ability and personal development of skills.”
“The soft skills that don’t really get taught are hard to teach, but are critical in performing group work,” said Williams.
Tanisha Patel, the Team Captain for the Civil Engineering Society’s team, believes the event is a great way for students to get out of their comfort zone and get used to working with others. “It’s a good exposure to how the industry is going to look like in the future,” she said. “Everybody should give it a shot once.”
The event also serves to memorialize the late, longtime NAIT instructor Gary Stroich who died suddenly in the spring of 2021.
“Gary [Stroich] truly was the heart and soul of our program,” said Williams.
Williams remembers Stroich as a very involved and passionate Instructor within the Construction Engineering Technology program.
“The best way to remember Gary was to rename the event.”
In the end, the CETSC team honoured Stroich’s legacy, defeating the Civil Engineering Society team in the final race and earning themselves the 2025 Challenger Cup.
This article was originally published in the October 8 print issue. Read it here.
