Some might think that a Concrete Canoe Competition is about which canoe can sink the fastest but this contest is nothing of the sort, at least as far as OU is concerned.

Students from the OU chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers recently paddled into eighth place at the 15th annual National Concrete Canoe Competition in Madison, Wis.

The team placed 14th at last year's competition.

More than 25 teams competed this year in the American Society of Civil Engineers 150th Anniversary National Student Conference.

"There are sprint and endurance canoe races for both guys and girls," said Joey Dunway, OU ASCE chapter president.

"The concrete canoe competition involves students building a canoe out of concrete," said Laura Kurz, director of communications for the College of Engineering. "However, the canoe is not made out of normal concrete it consists of different ingredients that make it float."

Dunway said the concrete has to be buoyant and light.

"The concrete we use is made up of light weight materials like fiberglass beads which is different from normal concrete which is made with rocks."

A core group of about 10 people designed OU's canoe and an additional 10 to 30 people helped build the canoe, Dunway said.

The canoe weighed 102 pounds and was 21 feet long. It took the team more than 2,000 hours to build and many hours of training at an area pond.

Dunway said OU started competing in the regional competition in the early 1990s and this was the team's second year to attend nationals.

"The competition was fun because there is a rivalry, just like in other sports," Dunway said. " But while we're competing, we develop a strong sense of community. For example, we cheer on OSU's team and OSU cheers us on because both of us want each other to do well."

Dunway said OSU placed third in this year's competition.

The concrete canoe competition is open to the American Society of Civil Engineers members.
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