Study association KOers tried to break the world record longest beer crate bridge!

Unfortunately we did not succeed in breaking the world record.

However, we did have an amazing time during the preparations and the construction of the bridge and we are very proud of what we have accomplished. Niels Dusseldorp made a documentary in which the design process, technical challenges, and the construction site are shown.

We would really like to thank our partners and all the volunteers that helped us.

Check our Instagram / Facebook to see our progress! On this website you can find the most important updates and our photoalbum.

With love,

BKB committee

Preparations on the building site for the Beer Crate Bridge started last week. The first deliveries of crates have arrived and are waiting for the foundation of the bridge before they will be put in place. The earliest signs of what is to come are already visible to the attentive eye: the future position of the bridge is marked on the large field of grass and many materials are already present.

With that, the one month long period of daily construction activities has started! For updates on the progress, keep an eye on this website or follow our social media.

The design of the bridge is finished! On wednesday the 11^th of may, it’s all going to happen. A bridge that completely consists of Heineken 0.0 crates with a length of at least 40 meters! Two towers with a height of at least 8 meters will be built at the ends of the bridge. These two towers will be filled with water because it acts like abutments.

A span will be built between these two towers with a height of 6,5 meters. The design is made in such a way that the bridge is smaller in the middle than at the base, which creates a lighter weight and it will be less affected by the wind. We are still looking for volunteers for building the bridge, so sign up and join us!

Check out the previous bridges built by KOers

A small model of a Beer Crate Bridge was recently constructed in the Trappenzaal. With this model, promotion of the event was kicked off and so is the search for volunteers. Next week, the 29^th of March, KOers organizes an interest drink for potential volunteers where people interested in contributing can find out more about construction and the event.

Volunteers are needed during the construction phase, which will be from April 18^th on. On May 11^th, the day of the record attempt, volunteers can finalize the construction of the bridge, or help during the attempt and the celebration. Demolishing the bridge together with volunteers then continues until May 14^th.

Cursor, the news outlet at the TU/e, released an article about the Beer Crate Bridge by KOers. Read more about the plans, considerations, and ongoing development.

Read the article here!

There are only two months left till the BeerCrateBridge attempt takes place! In the time since the last update, we’ve all been very busy with the bridge. During this time, a few things happened: the final design of the BeerCrateBridge is completed, the foundation plan has changed, a demolition plan is made, contracted new sponsors and we also have a few new committee members. The whole committee will be introduced soon and the final design will be published next week, so stay tuned!

We are also still looking for volunteers, so don’t hesitate and join us!

"Kunnen we het Maken?" is the podcast about building engineering by Study Association KOers. In episode 8 of season 2, committee members Jelle and Laura talk about the development of the Beer Crate Bridge.

More "Kunnen we het Maken?"

We would like to introduce our first official partner: WSP in Nederland. For those who daren't familiar with WSP, it is a globally recognized professional services firm. The experts within WSP work on a future-proof living environment in the field of construction, infrastructure, environment, water and energy. With the expertise and the advice of WSP, the structural design of the BeerCratesBridge can be optimized.

Last week, a few committee members visited the WSP office in Eindhoven for a meeting. During this meeting, the entire process was discussed and WSP gave a few useful tips for an even better design and realization.

We look forward to working with WSP and wish everyone good luck!

Find all of our partners here

Last weekend we had our committee trip to....... BRUGGE! Almost the whole committee joined the trip to Brugge and we got to know each other in a different but fun way. We went to, among other, a beer brewery, a chocolate museum and a fries museum. We also climbed to the highest point of the Belfort tower to see this amazing view over the whole city. This trip was not possible without Sue Ellen en Jelle. Thankyou guys for all the effort and of course for the amazing BKBrugge hat.

The structural committee made a scale model of the BeerCrateBridge design. During the construction of the scale model, we encountered areas which needed some improvement. For instance, the measurements of the crates were not fully correct and needed to be adjusted in the design. The crates were prestressed with the help of lashing straps to fully assemble the BeerCrateBridge.

When the scale model was fully assembled, the lashing straps were removed to see if the BeerCrateBridge could stand on its own without any help.... And YES!!! The scale model was able to stand on its own WITHOUT the help of the straps. The scale model is shown below as a nice video (on purpose of course;))

The BeerCrateBridge committee is finally complete! Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to meet with the whole committee due to the Covid circumstances and regulations. Instead of a group photo, we pinned the locations on the ground of every committee member and each one came by individually to create a Covid proof committee photo.

The committee consists of three subcommittees because this project is an important event which requires a lot of care and attention. The three subcommittees are the head committee, the structural committee and the realization committee. The head committee discusses the most important conclusions from the other two subcommittees and all the general points like the PR, media, planning and the event. The structural committee takes care of the structural elements to create a safe design of the bridge and the realization committee takes care of everything regarding the attempt/event itself.

More about the committee

The members of the entire BKB committee are:
Lucas van Bemmelen, Anne Derks, Laura Vrenken, Erwin Webers, Linda Versteegh, Anna Ongenae, Mike Veenhuis, Evelien Dorresteijn, Teun Warmerdam, Amy Huw, Jelle Versteege, Elise Wielinga, Saar Driessen, Leroy Pieloor, Thomas Pannekeet, Bart van der Born, Naomi Vastenhout, Sue Ellen de Nijs, Joes Sloots and Jilke Donkervoort.

The first pallet with beer crates arrived. We could not use the test results of the Beer Crate Bridge attempt from 2016 because we do not use the same crates. Therefore, the crates are tested again in the Structural Lab. The new crates are tested on shear strength, compressive strength, and orientation. All the tests are elaborated several times to guarantee the reliability.

Bierkrattenbrug Eindhoven - Studievereniging KOers