From June 27-29, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) will hold its annual Civil Engineering Student Championships at California Polytechnic State University. The finals of several nationwide student engineering competitions will take place during the weekend, including the 37th running of the ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition.
The competition is a continuation of more than 50 years of intramural contests between collegiate engineers across the country.
“So, I’m thinking we’re talking ’84 out at Kansas State,” said Bill Bundschuh, president and owner of PRETECH and a Kansas State alumnus. “We raced concrete canoes out there. It was the same competition back then.”
Colloquially referred to as the “America’s Cup of Civil Engineering,” the competition requires entrants to design a canoe predominantly made of concrete. The mix of materials used to produce the canoe is ultimately up to the participants.
“We began our design process by reviewing previous years’ designs and noting aspects we wanted to improve on or change,” said Trudi Paetzold, co-captain and CFO of the Colorado School of Mines’ concrete canoe team. “We also prioritized reducing the weight of the canoe and improving the strength of our mix.”
Technical and artistic direction also comes down to the team members. Paetzold appreciated how past canoe designs could catch your eye with their beauty while remaining practical.
Bundschuh noted that the canoe he raced won due to its width and horizontal mobility on a bendy river. Ironically, for 200-plus-pound boats made of concrete, flexibility is the best bet.
Concrete Canoe, beyond being the ASCE’s flagship student-driven competition, is sponsored by the NPCA Foundation. This year, in conjuction with the Foundation, NPCA provided eight $1,000 scholarships to fund resources to construct the canoes and travel expenses for competition. Four schools under NPCA’s scholarship qualified for this year’s championship:
- Colorado School of Mines – Golden, Colorado
- Lipscomb University – Nashville, Tennessee
- Kansas State University – Manhattan, Kansas
- Michigan Technological University – Houghton, Michigan