How Schulich civil engineering students built a bridge in five days

While many people spent their Reading Week in February studying, a group of Schulich School of Engineering undergraduate students travelled to the U.K. to build a 12-metre-long cable bridge in five days as part of the first University of Calgary (and Canadian) cohort to take part in an experiential-learning program offered by Constructionarium Ltd.

The trip was made possible by Schulich’s Global Experiences Initiative, an annual opportunity for engineering students to travel during the week-long break to explore engineering abroad. This year, 20 Schulich undergraduates participated in a Constructionarium project in Norfolk, England, to gain advanced engineering skills in a safe, purpose-built environment, building a cable bridge inspired by the Millau Cable Viaduct in southern France.

Third-year civil engineering student Adriana Menjivar Najarro remembers the anxious glances shared across the meeting room as they discussed the project. After all, it’s not every day that a group of undergraduate students get to build a bridge in five days.  

“We were jet lagged, and the Constructionarium staff were clear that this was our bridge. They asked if anyone had construction experience, and no one did. Then I thought, okay, I can breathe,” says Menjivar. 

Constructionarium is a non-profit organization that offers industry and post-secondary students the opportunity to experience a live construction site. Over a five-day period, teams build one of 19 projects available, this year ranging from UCalgary’s cable bridge to a "nuclear island" power plant project, a nuclear reactor project complete with protestors to simulate stakeholder management. It’s a requirement of many civil engineering programs in the U.K., providing experiential learning that helps relate theory to practice. 

“The first thing that got me hooked was the experience of seeing something physical come from the engineering,” says Menjivar. “The language, the bolts, the types of drills — it doesn’t come with school if you are a site engineer. Instead of being a concept, I now have something to relate a site to, which will help me learn faster.”

The student team assigns real roles to its members, from surveyors to a project manager, working with a “client” to deliver their project on time and on budget. Two Schulich civil engineering faculty chaperones accompanied the students — Drs. Bronwyn Chorlton and Muntasir Billah, both PhD — providing additional guidance and advice.

Dr. Jacob Lamb, PhD’24, now a Schulich civil engineering assistant professor (teaching), participated in Constructionarium as a student himself while studying at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he came to Canada to teach, he was surprised that Canada didn’t have the equivalent. 

“For me at the time, the challenge wasn’t building a bridge. It was the project management,” he says. “It is not just valuable to teach about pouring concrete, but the higher level of management and the engineering behind it.”

Lamb stresses that, for civil engineers, the experience is critical to understanding the larger role that they play in society. 

“There is so much training in theory and mathematics, it’s easy to forget that we are building the real world,” he says. “Experiential learning connects their motivations to help people in the world and keeps them inspired and grounded.” 

Julia Stevens, chief executive at Constructionarium, knows the impact it can have. With more than 14,000 students having participated since 2003, Stevens and the team have received positive feedback from most delegates, who say it enhanced their academic learning. 

“The academic perspective only gives a narrow view of how the construction sector works,” she says. “It’s such a dynamic sector to work in. Every time you build a bridge, the circumstances are different, from the location, the weather, the people, the skillsets.” 

Stevens has seen the participants’ “rabbits in the headlights” look that Menjivar remembers, but, as the hours pass, students grow their understanding, from the terminology to the expectations.

“Five days is a considerable amount of time in terms of what they take away,” Stevens says. “We see the transformation of individuals in terms of maturity, confidence and knowledge.” 

As a live construction site, the team and mentors stress the critical nature of site processes, paperwork and safety procedures. It was one of the biggest learnings that Menjivar took away, especially as her team’s project manager. 

“I’ve had experience leading a team, but this was the first time in a technical role,” she says. “The amount of paperwork that comes with construction was incredible, but there is a real reason behind it. I learned the most about why paperwork matters — because everyone wants to go home at the end of the day.”   

Since the UCalgary cohort returned home, Lamb has continued to hear from students about the impact the experience had on them. He’s confident that it will bleed into other areas of their university learning, from their internships, capstone projects, to post-graduation in the workforce.

In fact, according to a press release from Constructionarium, some students even plan to return to the U.K. this summer to seek industry placements.

“I see our graduates going into a job to make the world a better place, feeling inspired and connected to their work. Constructionarium makes them look up and into the future,” he says.