Spaghetti bridge

A spaghetti bridge is an architectural model of a bridge, made of uncooked spaghetti or other hard, dry, straight noodles. Bridges are constructed for both educational experiments and competitions. The aim is usually to construct a bridge with a specific quantity of materials over a specific span, that can sustain a load. In competitions, the bridge that can hold the greatest load for a short period of time wins the contest. There are many contests around the world, usually held by schools and colleges.

Okanagan College contest
The original Spaghetti Bridge competition has run at Okanagan College in British Columbia since 1983, and is open to international entrants who are full-time secondary or post-secondary students.

The winners of the 2009 competition were Norbert Pozsonyi and Aliz Totivan of the Szechenyi Istvan University of Győr in Hungary. They won $1,500 with a bridge that weighed 982 grams and held 443.58 kg. Second place went to Brendon Syryda and Tyler Pearson of Okanagan College with a bridge that weighed 982 grams and held 98.71 kg.

Contests
Spaghetti bridge building contests around the world include:
 * Abbotsford School District
 * Australian Maritime College
 * Budapest Technical University
 * Camosun College
 * Coonabarabran High School
 * Delft University of Technology
 * Ferris State University
 * George Brown College
 * Institute of Machine Design and Security Technology
 * Instituto GayLussac - Ensino Fundamental e Médio
 * Universidade da Coruña, Escola Politécnica de Enxeñaría
 * Italy High School
 * James Cook University
 * Johns Hopkins University
 * McGill University
 * Monash University
 * Nathan Hale High School
 * Okanagan College
 * Riga Technical University
 * Rowan University
 * Technical University of Madrid
 * Universidad del Valle de Guatemala
 * Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
 * University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy
 * University of British Columbia
 * University of Maribor
 * University of Salento
 * University of South Australia
 * University of Southern California
 * University of Technology Sydney
 * University of Tehran
 * University of the Andes
 * Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
 * Winston Science
 * Woodside Elementary School
 * Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
 * Universidad de Buenos Aires - Facultad de Arquitectura Diseño y Urbanismo
 * Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Santa Catarina - Joinville, Brazil