A University of Alabama student team — Alabeama — recently placed third in the 2018 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Big Beam Competition. Among the team members are: Daniel Bridi Valentim and Gabrielle Willis of Tuscaloosa.
The objective of the national competition is to design, fabricate and test a precast and prestressed concrete beam to span 20 feet and to support at least 32,000 pounds and fail, or break, before reaching 39,000 pounds. The competition also required a video component to be submitted by each team documenting progress and results. The team worked with industry partner Gate Precast in Monroeville, to create the beam used in competition that earned them third out of 20 teams nationally. In addition to the hands-on experience gained through this process, the student team will receive $1,500 for the third-place finish.