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Engineers craft canoe of special cement

Most people would laugh if challenged to make a canoe out of concrete. But a group of University students has tackled the challenge and hopes to rebuild a University tradition at the same time.

The University's chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers is making aboat for competition in the 1996 ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition.

According to Engineering junior Chris DeGood, this event is not new to the University. "The University used to field teams like this 20 years ago, but then interest dropped off. ... (The team) got started again about four years ago," DeGood said.

The University's entry was worked on by members of the ASCE, with help from other students who worked in exchange for lab credit from professors. DeGood, who serves as the team's captain, said he was impressed by the turnout.

The group is used to questions about how a concrete boat could float. "We get asked that all the time," DeGood said.

The canoe's construction has taken place in several phases. The plans for the canoe, originally designed by a naval architect with a computer-design program, were used to make two-dimensional diagrams of sections of the canoe.

After students constructed the individual sections, they linked the sections together to create a frame. On Sunday, the team tied steel hardware cloth to the frame, making it ready to receive the concrete. Special concrete was poured into this frame, where it has been drying since Sunday night.

The team has had to consider several different problems in making the canoe, Engineering senior Mike Pniewski said. He said finding the best ways to minimize the thickness of the concrete and to use the welded wire fabric for the mold were the biggest challenges.

"We weren't always sure that the methods we used would work," Pniewski said. "Many of our ideas actually did work."

The frame will be removed from the concrete Saturday, leaving a shell in the shape of the canoe. After some sanding, the vessel will be ready to sail.

Preparation of the concrete was a major part of the project, DeGood said.

A special type of particle called Macrolite was added to the mixture. Macrolite is a trademark for hollow ceramic spheres made by the 3-M Corporation. Mixing the lightweight spheres with cement results in a concrete less dense than water.

A block of the special concrete can float in a bathtub or water tank. "It's really neat since you can make waves with your hand in the water and watch this block of concrete move in response," DeGood said.

The team will compete in a regional tournament March 11, hosted by Michigan Tech University. Teams from universities in the Great Lakes states are scheduled to compete.

The canoe will be judged in two major areas during the competition. A display score is given on the ability of the group to present their canoe. Students will earn points for the display, aesthetics of the boat, and a five-minute presentation in which the group advertises their vessel.

Races will form the second part of the competition. The boats will be tested in both 100-meter sprint races and 600-meter distance races. The team members must row the boats themselves.

DeGood said the boat races tend to be intense, and water splashed from anxious paddles often leads to disaster. "Every year that I've gone (to the regional competition), at least one team's boat has sank," he said.

Two teams from the region will advance to the national competition. Though most regions will only advance one team to the next round, any region that placed a team in the top three slots nationally in the previous year may qualify two teams. The site of this year's national competition has yet to be determined.

Michigan State's team finished third in the national competition last year.

The team is always on the lookout for new recruits, said team member Dave Delia, an Engineering senior. Though the work may look sophisticated, said Delia, anyone can make contributions to the team.

"If you want an activity where your ideas will be used, this is it," he said. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to do this."