The Bridge House Restoration project team’s primary objective was to rejuvenate the structure, originally built by students between 1965-1968, to once again make it a priority destination for the public when visiting the Experimental Structures Laboratory in Poly Canyon.

With this goal in mind, the primary scope of work included removing plywood barriers, installing code-compliant barricades and guard rails, and cleaning graffiti from years of disrepair. The steel railings were designed and fabricated by the student team to complement those installed on the structure by the previous group.

With the elimination of the plywood barricades, the Bridge House could once again be a sense of pride in the rich historical landscape of our Cal Poly community. In addition, the team hoped to gain more knowledge and experience in working in an interdisciplinary group.

An important goal was to have an experience that mimicked a true construction project. Throughout the experience, they expected collaboration between each discipline from the pre-construction phase through the final closeout of the structure.

They aimed to embrace the Cal Poly spirit of Learn-By-Doing by designing, welding, and installing the guardrails around the structure by hand. At the end of this project, They hoped the team would gain experience in the collaboration of design, scheduling, budgeting, welding, and manufacturing.

The team included Samantha Solow (ARCE 2019), Ian Connolly (CRP 2019), Severin Elste (CM 2019), Adam Pruitt (ARCE 2019), Christophy Levy (ARCE 2019), Ben Sykes (ARCE 2019), Elizabeth Wiley (ENVE 2019), and faculty advisor and Associate Dean of the CAED, Kevin Dong (ARCE).

This project accomplished interdisciplinary collaboration between 4 of the 5 departments within the CAED, which is a major accomplishment in and of itself, and they went even further on their interdisciplinary mission by including student participation from the Environmental Engineering department to complete the required environmental impact studies for the project.