Innovative Bridge Solutions: ASCE Student Steel Bridge Competition; Urban Green Spaces and the Gentrification Dilemma

For my capstone project, I built a steel bridge as a model to improve trail connections in a protected Iowa nature park. My sociotechnical paper focuses on the consequences of green spaces in urban environments. Though distinct in focus, both projects explore how infrastructure can coexist with natural environments to serve communities. Together, these projects highlight the importance of integrating nature into the built environment and demonstrate how thoughtful design can strengthen the relationship between people, infrastructure, and the ecosystems they inhabit.
Our capstone team designed and fabricated a steel bridge to compete in the 2025 ASCE Student Steel Bridge Competition. The bridge was designed to fit competition requirements and to model improvements for the Skunk River Trail. The team optimized structural performance, constructability, and aesthetics through iterative modeling and analysis in Revit and RAM Elements. After completing the model, steel was ordered, and the bridge was fabricated by the team. The fabrication process included welding, cutting, bolt-hole drilling, grinding, and painting. The bridge was tested under an oscillating 2500lb load in the UVA structures laboratory. Alongside technical objectives, the team prioritized reviving the UVA Steel Bridge Team by recruiting underclassmen, structuring leadership roles, and holding workshops. The report includes detailed drawings, design evolution, and compliance documentation with AISC and ASCE competition standards. Our team was successful in constructing the bridge and competing in the ASCE Regional Symposium at the end of March 2025. Although the bridge was disqualified due to slightly overtime construction, the bridge performed well under load tests, and the competition provided valuable insights for future years. Future teams will look to build a lighter bridge with fewer connections and smaller members. Our team satisfied its goals of constructing the bridge, attending competition, and building a strong foundation of the UVA Steel Bridge Club for the future.
Urban green spaces are invaluable resources in the large city environments that serve as home to many Americans. The rapid growth of cities in the past few decades has included many motivating factors and consequences, which extend effects to these green spaces. Different priorities of development related to money and density can sometimes neglect public spaces such as these. On the other hand, some development plans that prioritize redevelopment of green spaces can lead to gentrification within their neighborhoods. This paper investigates the question of, “What role do urban green spaces serve in their communities?” By evaluating participant groups connected in the system of urban park development and renewal, including planning organizations, nonprofit advocacies, and community residents, the paper discusses the interplay between the positive and negative impacts of these spaces. My research uncovers the complex dynamics between urban green spaces and community well-being, highlighting both their role as essential resources for public health and social equity and the unintended consequences of gentrification. These consequences are complicated and variable to change with location, time, and other parameters. Understanding the complex roles of green spaces is important for residents, advocacies, and planners, as it ensures that community engagement and resilience is prioritized when making development decisions.
Working on both projects at once helped me see infrastructure as part of a larger system connecting people and nature. Designing a steel bridge intended to better connect people to nature while researching green space equity pushed me to think beyond technical specs and consider broader social and environmental impacts of design. This overlap strengthened my ability to design with both function and context in mind—an insight I might have missed if I approached these projects separately.

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

Technical Advisor: Jose Gomez

STS Advisor: Bryn Seabrook

Technical Team Members: Zoe DeGuzman, Bear Matheson, Wren Sadler, Benjamin Van Zandt, Eric Venner