James Dessert holds his winning bridge on Mar. 1, 2019.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Okanagan College
March 02, 2019 - 2:30 PM
KELOWNA — Two brothers from Lumby took home first and second prize, yesterday, at the 36th annual Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest at Okanagan College.
James Dessert won $1,500 for his spaghetti bridge that held 137.94 kg of load on the College’s Fettuccine Fault Line scale, a media release says. His brother, Justin Dessert, won second place with a bridge that held 128.55 kg.
“I’m happy with my bridge this year but of course I would have liked it to hold even more weight,” James says in the release. “I’m ready for next year and will be making some improvements to hold even more weight.”
James is currently enrolled in his first year of Mechanical Engineering Technology diploma at the College and credits the Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest for helping to shape his educational goals.
“I’ve always had fun building these bridges year after year and it definitely got me interested in engineering,” he says in the release.
This year marks the third year in a row he has competed against Justin, for the best bridge. Justin had taken first place over James for the past two years.
“It feels great to win and I’m definitely going to be bragging about this for sure,” Dessert says in the release.
James got his start in the Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest six years ago. He won first place in 2014, took home second place in 2018, 2017 and 2016 and third in 2015.
More than 250 students attended this year’s event, which was sponsored by a variety of industry and community supporters including a new title sponsor, Faction Projects Inc.
Neil Bolton, Manager of Projects at Faction Projects Inc. attended the competition and was floored by the results.
“This is our first time at the Spaghetti Bridge Contest and it was awesome to watch,” Neil Bolton with Faction Projects Inc. says in the release. “It’s crazy to see the amount of weight you can support with spaghetti.”
Faction is a local multi-service company that offers architecture, construction and development management services.
“We do a lot of work with Okanagan College and this event was a great fit, especially with our line of work,” Bolton says in the release. “We’re are happy to be part of this competition and are definitely looking forward to next year.”
COMPLETE RESULTS
Heavyweight
First – James Dessert (Okanagan College, Kelowna, B.C.)
Bridge weighed 799.61 grams
Bridge held 137.94 kg
Second – Justin Dessert (Charles Bloom Secondary, Lumby, B.C.)
Bridge weighed 916.14 grams
Bridge held 128.55 kg
Third – Stefan Trajkov, Luiz Fernandez and Shafat Ismail (Red River College, Winnipeg, M.B)
Bridge weighed 999.36 grams
Bridge held 114.99 kg
Fourth – Joshua Greencorn and Riley Jackson (Anchor Academy, homeschool)
Bridge weighed 564.85 grams
Bridge held 12.01 kg
Secondary (lightweight)
First – Tyson Kamstra, Joel deHoog and Eli Jansen (King’s Christian School)
Second – Sienna Collins, Maddy Darlington, Caroline Bernath and Taylor Blenkin (Okanagan Mission Secondary)
Third – Juliette Schilling, Maya Ufimzeff and Arashjot Hehar (George Elliot Secondary)
Fourth – Tori Hansen and Alivia Grey-Goodman (Springvalley Middle School)
Team Building Secondary
First – Sarah Congdon, Rudi Fink and Tyler Blumethal (King’s Christian School)
Second – Haley Partridge, Clayton Reay (King’s Christian School)
Third – Tyson Kamstra, Joel deHoog, Eli Jansen (King’s Christian School)
Team Building Post-Secondary
First – Clayton Uhlig and Keyvan Khadem (Okanagan College)
Second – Nita Joubert, Adam Thomson, Stefan Queen and Brendan Horsfield (Okanagan College)
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