Australia 
Brazil 
Canada 
Chile 
China 
Columbia 
France 
India 
Indonesia 
Ireland 
Italy 
Malaysia 
New Zealand 
Norway 
Panama 
Peru 
Poland 
Portugal 
Saudi Arabia 
Singapore 
South Korea 
Spain 
Sweden 
Taiwan 
Thailand 
Türkiye 
United Kingdom 
United States 
Vietnam 
a future in engineering
The purpose of the competition is to inspire young people to choose a future in construction and industry, including engineering. SYSTRA Denmark was represented on the judging panel by Nils Ebbesen from Bridges & Structures.
For Nils, the day was something special. He was in fact the only judge in the panel who had once stood on the other side as a participant himself. Before joining SYSTRA, he took part in the competition with a team of students – and his team went all the way and won.
Photo: Claus Fisker for Verdens vildeste brobyggere
From former winner to judge and mentor
This year, Nils Ebbesen had a dual role as both judge and mentor to the participating teams. In the four months leading up to the competition, he and the other judges contributed to concept development, sparring, sketching and professional reflections on what made sense in each of the individual solutions. That role, in particular, gave him the opportunity to draw on his own experience.
It is always exciting to see what this year’s students and apprentices come up with. The three teams often take very different approaches to the task, and they face different challenges that call for guidance along the way. But seeing — and getting the chance to walk on — the finished bridges on the day of the competition is a truly great finale for me, as well as for the bridge builders.
Nils Ebbesen
Facts about Verdens vildeste brobyggere
Verdens Vildeste Brobyggere is a major live bridge-building competition, education fair, school outreach initiative and city festival all in one, designed to inspire children and young people to become part of the construction and industrial sectors.
In just seven hours, three interdisciplinary teams of apprentices, students and pupils compete to build spectacular bridges in concrete, steel and wood. The three teams are allowed to prefabricate specific parts of the bridge in advance and must work together across disciplines. A professional judging panel selects the winning team, which receives a joint prize of DKK 80,000.
