SCHOOL children from Sully Primary School have been encouraged to think about engineering during a workshop organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers, the oldest professional institution in the world.

Both Year 5 classes were given the opportunity to build a fifteen metre cable stayed bridge – a mini version of the second Severn crossing – supported by civil engineering Ambassadors and CITB ConstructionSkills Wales.

The children – wearing high visibility jackets, hard hats, gloves and goggles – worked in their school hall in two teams to construct the bridge from opposite ends before meeting in the middle. Once completed, the children were able to walk across the bridge… after first sending their Headteacher Mrs Hart and teachers Mrs Martin and Miss Reynolds over to test it!

Keith Jones, director ICE Wales Cymru, said: “Civil engineers are highly skilled individuals with a flair for problem solving with excellent earning potential and we would like to encourage young people, particularly girls, to consider civil engineering as a possible career path.

He continued: “ICE Wales Cymru regularly takes bridges into schools across Wales - working with CITB ConstructionSkills Wales and Careers Wales - interacting with thousands of young people each year, raising awareness of what we do as civil engineers and encouraging them to think about becoming professional engineers in the future.”

Mrs Hart, Headteacher, said: “The children thoroughly enjoyed the bridge building workshops and their insight into what being an engineer is like. They particularly enjoyed working with real civil engineers, who also shared their experiences of working on a variety of engineering projects from mining in Australia to working on the Olympic Stadium – and that was just the female civil engineers!