National Concrete Canoe Competition Comes to Tuscaloosa
by kleph on Jun 10, 2009 8:58 AM CDT
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"Are you talkin' to us?"
Concrete, it might surprise you to learn, is the most used building material on Earth. Enough of the stuff is produced each year to provide every man, woman and child on the planet more than a full cubic meter worth. It's also a heck of a lot more versatile than you would expect and can be used to construct a variety of unlikely products - like, say, canoes.
The University of Alabama is hosting the finals of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) 22nd Annual National Concrete Canoe Competition this week. The initial weigh in and critical "float test" will be held on The Quad between 7 and 11 a.m. tomorrow and the actual races will be held Saturday at Lake Nichol from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The competition is considered the "America’s Cup of Civil Engineering" with technical expertise playing as large a role in the success of a team's entry as physical prowess on the water. In fact, the canoe competition is less a question of making a vessel that is seaworthy than maximizing the properties of the material to create the fastest craft possible.
The University of Nevada, Reno will be trying to repeat as champions against a field of 22 teams who have advanced from regional semi-final contests held during the spring. The honor of the State of Alabama will be upheld by the engineers from UA Huntsville who have no less than five championships under their belt (although the last was in 2001). This year Team UAH has built a 20-foot-long canoe dubbed "ITZ Civilized" (it’s an engineering thing) that weighs in right at 217 pounds. They spoke to The Huntsville Times this week about their hopes for the competition.
Curious? A few YouTube vids from last year's competition after the jump:
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Concrete, it might surprise you to learn, is the most used building material on Earth.
Unfortunately, it isn’t used enough in America on residential homes. We in the insurance industry have been fighting for years to get hurricane-prone state’s building codes in the southeast to recognize fortified construction (i.e. concrete, steel frame). Florida finally did a few years ago. Alabama has yet to catch on. I’m seeing more and more concrete home builders poping up, which is a good sign. Its amazing that concrete has been the prefered method of construction in South and Central America and the Caribean for decades, and here we are still builing stick homes.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
Its amazing that concrete has been the prefered method of construction in South and Central America and the Caribean for decades, and here we are still builing stick homes.
Can’t speak for Central and South America, but I know in certain parts of Asia that concrete construction can hide some things that you couldn’t in lumber homes. I believe after a severe earthquake in Turkey several years ago (I think it was the ‘99 quake) it was discovered that the sand to cement ratio in the conrete used was waaaaay out of balance and that people were basically living in sandhouses. Additionally, I’ve seen photos friends have taken in India of new concrete construction where the frames were not made of steel, but of bamboo. Obviously that wouldn’t fly in the US with building codes and what not, but considering how many builders cut corners, I’d want to see some serious legislation in existence about the grade of concrete that had to be used.
I'm
not that concerned about it. The concrete isn’t the big cost anyway, its the pre-designed steel forms. And you can always have someone test the concrete. If you can get a metalurgical engineer to test steel, then you can do it with concrete and probably far easier since its so basic.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
by Bens4vcobra on Jun 11, 2009 11:51 AM CDT up reply actions
Do these guys race
to the bottom of the river, or what? :D
Seriously, it’s amazing what a little imagination can do. I wonder who the first guy was that said, “You know, this stuff sinks like a lead weight, but I think I can make it float!” Genius…
I bleed crimson and white...I puke Vol puke orange. RTR
It is all about the displacement
I would guess they try and smooth the outside of the canoe as much as possible as well.
I heard...
…the NCAA is investigating these guys. Anybody have anything concrete on that?
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jun 11, 2009 3:56 PM CDT reply actions
Does the . . .
concrete shoes swimming competition take place before or after the concrete canoe race?
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