Getting Nerdy on Schuylkill Banks

More than 200 people came out to explore the cosmos and engineer bridges on Schuylkill Banks as part of this year's Philadelphia Science Festival.

Stargazers of all ages braved the chilly weather on Friday, April 24 to view the moon and Jupiter through two telescopes provided by local astronomers, Frank O'Brien and Iain Baxter. The sky was clear, providing great views of the moon's craters as well as the bands on Jupiter and four of its moons!

On Sunday, April 26, budding engineers came out to learn about the science that went into building the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk and other bridges on the tidal Schuylkill. SRDC Director of Capital Projects, Lane Fike, gave two talks about the construction of the Boardwalk and challenges that the City, SRDC, and the designers and contractors faced along the way. Participants were also able to experiment with bridge building concepts at three stations where they were able to build and test models of arch and beam bridges, truss bridges, and continuous beam bridges.

SRDC was thrilled to partner with the Franklin Insititute and a variety of volunteers on this wonderful event, and looks forward to getting nerdy with trail users on Schuylkill Banks again next year!