UA Engineering Students Compete with a Concrete Canoe

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Paper, plastic and Styrofoam easily float in water, but University of Alabama civil engineering students are working to make concrete float.

Floating concrete? One might think that’s impossible, but a team of UA civil engineering students poured concrete on a canoe mold and plan to participate in a concrete canoe contest at the American Society of Civil Engineers Southeast Student Regional Conference March 18-20 in Tampa, Fla.

“The students and I are excited about competing with the canoe because it’s a challenging but fun competition,” said Dr. Charles Haynes, professor of civil engineering and faculty advisor for UA’s ASCE concrete canoe project.

The students began constructing the mold for the concrete canoe in September by forming bulkheads and placing strips of wood in order to give it a final form. Wood glue and epoxies are used to harden the mold, and the mold is shrink-wrapped. Next, concrete is applied and is placed with fiberglass mesh sheets around the mold. Once the concrete is formed on the mold, it cures and is easily removed.

The concrete used for the canoe is Portland cement that contains special admixtures, like flyash and K15-microspheres, in order to make the concrete float.

At the ASCE Student Regional Conference, the students will be judged on the presentation of the canoe, appearance, race performance, and a technical paper the students prepare about the project.

The civil engineering students involved in the concrete canoe project include:

• Kathryn Bryan – senior from Lockhart
• Jonathan Effinger – senior from Birmingham (35212)
• Jay Files – junior from Madison, Miss.
• Marci Jackson – senior from Demopolis
• Bryan Korreckt – freshman from Lincoln
• Tommy Lindsey – senior from Russellville
• Andrea Payne – senior from Tuscaloosa
• Patrick Sanshu – senior from Anniston
• Tucker Spidle – sophomore from Livingston
• David Sutley – graduate student from Fairhope
• Kenneth Todd – senior from Tuscaloosa
• Jacob Vanderford – junior from Southside

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 90 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.

Note to Editors: For photos of the canoe, please contact Mary Wymer at 205/348-6444 or mwymer@coe.eng.ua.edu.