Civil Engineering Students Win Concrete Canoe Race

A group of civil engineering students were able to keep their concrete canoe afloat at this year's national competition in Alabama-taking home the school's first championship trophy since 1992.

The group received first place in a three-day competition in June at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where they had to present and race a canoe made of concrete, competing against more than 200 schools.

This year, the rules for the competition were different than in previous years, said Danielle Des Champs, a senior in civil engineering and captain of this year's team.

"Instead of designing our own canoes, you build it exactly to their specifications," Des Champs said.

Despite the fact that they had ready-made specifications, team members estimated that they spent more than 6400 hours on the project.

The team of students had started working towards the competition last August.

"We put in more hours that any previous years," Des Champs said.

Joan Chamberlain, a civil engineering undergraduate advisor, said the team's ability to work together really made a difference.

"One of the many reasons the students took first was because so many students put their personal lives on hold," Chamberlain said. "They were so willing to work as a team and to give up their personal time."

Chamberlain said the competition is "more of a challenge to succeed in skills that they will definitely need as Civil Engineers but in kind of a fun (way)."

Team members said this was a way to practice civil engineering methods and techniques outside of the laboratory.

"I just wanted to try something different," said senior Justin Martinez. "Everyone can go on a boat and paddle it around but not a lot of people get a chance to build their own boat, (let alone) out of a material like concrete. It is more fun than work."

According to recent graduate and team member Dan Gee, building the canoe is probably the biggest project a civil engineering student will get to work on.

"In retrospect, the benefits were learning a lot of skills that civil engineers need to know, that Berkeley doesn't teach in the classrooms," Gee said.

Des Champs said that the competition is also "pretty big in civil engineering; all the companies keep an eye on it."

Chamberlain said that the students would be able to use the skills they learned.

"For the students, the competition was more of a personal gain," Chamberlain said. "They learned a lot of skills they will use as engineers."

Tags: AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS