This quiz-style game challenges students to take on the role of structural engineer for a hypothetical design project. The game was originally developed as a contest for SteelDays in 2022, and it has been converted to a format for classroom use. 

Description 

Preliminary renovation plans are underway for Resilience Station in Steelville, Illinois! The historic train station will be transformed into a public museum, with the upper level of the iconic clock tower becoming an observation deck. As the design team’s structural engineer, students must evaluate the existing clock tower framing for the proposed observation deck. Unfortunately, the original building drawings were lost in a fire, so they’ll have to base their assessment on other information, including field notes and historic references.

Prerequisites

This game is ideally suited for students who are currently enrolled in or have completed a steel design class. All of the questions in the game can be answered using the provided resources and links Only the final round requires calculations; those questions focus on a simply supported beam and determining the flexural demand and design strength.

References

Questions refer to the Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (ANSI/AISC 360-22), as well as several online resources on the AISC website.  

To have full access to the resources, each student should be an AISC Student Member. If they made a purchase through the Student Manual Discount Program, we automatically enrolled them in a student membership. Otherwise, they can join for free here. 

Download the PDF

Note to Instructors

An instructor guide is available on the AISC Educator Forum in the Course Resources group, and it provides a description of what the game entails, suggestions for implementation, and the answer key for all questions.