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The following press release was issued by Michigan Tech’s Cyndi Perkins:
After placing first in regional championships in April, Michigan Technological University’s Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge teams are going for national titles. The National Concrete Canoe Competition, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, is June 6-8 at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. The National Student Steel Bridge Competition, sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction, is this weekend, May 31-June 1, at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Concrete Canoe Senior Co-captains Liz Adams and Cole Schilling said the team named its 164-pound 20-foot long canoe Driftwood, to honor Great Lakes beaches and show support to the local community recovering from last year’s mid-June flood.
The idea that a concrete boat can float feels counterintuitive, but concrete does float when it has a lower density than water, explained Schilling. “We substitute the heavy sand and stone (aggregate) for lighter, less dense materials like small hollow glass spheres and expanded shale. This results in a concrete mixture that is just 59 pounds per cubic foot, which is less dense than water at 62.4 pounds per cubic foot.”
In addition to meeting design and construction criteria, students also race their canoes. “We’re expecting to have the second lightest boat at Nationals, close behind Florida University’s 170-pound canoe,” said Schilling. “We’re not worried about any alligators but we’re keeping a sharp eye out for Gators (Florida University).”
Speed is also a factor for the Steel Bridge competition, said Captain Alec Weiterman. The team will be timed on how fast it can assemble the 23-by-five-foot nearly 200-pound bridge it designed and fabricated. “At regionals, two of our strengths were stiffness and construction speed,” he said. “The build team had a great run — but in order for us to be competitive at nationals, construction speed needs to improve. The strongest competitors at nationals will be Lafayette College from Pennsylvania and the University of Puerto Rico.”
Winning performances in Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge competitions are a long-time Michigan Tech tradition. Huskies will be cheering the teams on over the next two weekends.
