Concrete is for Canoes w/video

Source: CompositesWorld

Most sane human beings would disagree with the title of this post.  Fortunately for mankind Civil Engineers aren’t actually humans (you could argue the same for any other engineering discipline).  It’s true, concrete is for canoes.  Each year the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) sponsors an intercollegiate competition which challenges teams to build and race a canoe made entirely from concrete.  

The teams utilize the latest technology available to them to design and build a maximum length canoe of 22ft.  The teams must present their designs and then prove their design in competition.  The paddling competition consists of a 600 meter endurance race, a men’s 200 meter sprint race, a woman’s 200 meter sprint race, and a co-ed 400 meter sprint race.  Winning teams receive scholarship money for their school’s ASCE student organization.

Click through the jump break to see a video of the competitors.

Source: CompositesWorld, ASCE, and Vimeo