The bridge bearing battle scars after placing 3rd overall in Thursday's crushing.

In the language of the original civil engineers; veni, vidi, vici ... Barely. Our team placed 3rd and qualified for the national competition at Concordia University by the thinnest of margins. Only 0.5 points out of a 100 separated us from Chris and his team of masters students, the heavy favourites having set the Canadian record in 2003.

Our 1.35kg bridge held 784kg before the footings failed prematurely. In terms of the strength-to-weight ratio which comprises the majority of the score, we placed second. However, we were automatically deducted points in design because we went with an A-frame design, something that the organizers were trying to discourage. Nonetheless, even with this scoring scheme that we thought was unfair, we placed 3rd, barely ahead of Chris' team.

But it was not without controversy. When Chris' bridge was handled for the official weigh-in prior to the crushing, a member of the crushing committee accidentally knocked their bridge over and broke off the deck. Because the deck contributed nothing to the structural integrity of the bridge, they continued on with crushing. It did poorly failing at around 430kg. This is where things got a little crazy. Chris' team complained their bridge would of held more had the deck not been broken. They referred to a situation last year at Concordia where a similar situation occurred and they were awarded a 15% bonus in load score. This bonus would of placed them ahead of us and thus occupying the last qualifying position for the national competition.

Of course, this was a little upsetting. We clearly won according to the rules that we all agreed to when we entered the competition and it would of been extremely unfair had we lost our 3rd place standing because they changed the rules after the results. Fortunately, it worked out for us. I heard they may or may not send four teams this year. But personally, I just care we got what we deserved.

• official Ryerson bridge competition site with pictures

The second picture is courtesy of Stan.