Young civil engineers build mini Severn Bridge in Cardiff City Centre
The Graduates and Students Group of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Wales Cymru invited children to build a mini version of the Second Severn Crossing in the centre of Cardiff to promote civil engineering as a possible career choice.
The children were thrilled to take part in the hour long activity to build the 15 metre long and 3 metre high bridge, made from wood and steel. Once completed, the young people had the chance to test their construction and teamwork skills by walking across it. The bridge building sessions took place in the heart of the pedestrianised city centre shopping centre on Saturday 29th September.
Keith Jones, Director ICE Wales Cymru said: “We regularly take bridges into schools across Wales - working with ConstructionSkills Wales and Careers Wales - and interact with thousands of young people each year. We have also enabled children who are home schooled to build it. This event is only the third of its kind where children and their families can get involved and I am delighted that we were able to do this in one of the prime shopping areas of the UK, thanks to Cardiff Council. I am grateful to our G&S Group for organising this fantastic event.
“We wanted to raise awareness of what we do as civil engineers and to encourage girls and boys to think about becoming professional engineers in the future. We were really pleased at the number of children and families that came along to take part and enjoyed being a 'civil engineer' for the day.”
Photos by Betina Skovbro Photography