What is made of steel pipes up to 2m in diameter, weighs up to 20,000 tonnes and is taller than the Eiffel Tower? Answer: an underwater “jacket” or tower which supports an offshore oil rig. These structures can withstand immense vertical loading and overturning moments as they are designed to be resistant to toppling from very large wave fronts.

Year 7 classes learned about jacket structures during a visit from engineers from the BP Technology Centre, Pangbourne on November 21. The girls were then challenged to work in teams to construct their own jacket structure from straws and marshmallows. The stability and load-bearing capacity of each structure was tested – some collapsed when supporting a load while others performed excellently.

Year 7 showed tremendous enthusiasm and resilience when tacking this challenge and although not every structure was successful, the girls all learned about teamwork, planning, engineering and STEM careers. We would like to thank all the staff from BP who generously gave their time to run these exciting workshops for us.