Concrete Canoes Float to Victory

In the 1960s, a group of civil engineering students had what everyone thought was a crazy idea: they would design, build and race canoes made of concrete. Despite their success, no one would have believed that a national competition would evolve from the experiment, or that in 2007, the national competition would be celebrating its 20th annual event.

For the fifth year in a row, the University of Wisconsin-Madison team has captured the 'America's Cup of Civil Engineering' at the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) 20th Annual National Concrete Canoe Competition. Their technical skills, ingenuity and dedication propelled them to victory in their 179 pound, natural gray canoe, the Descendent. As the winner of the 2007 National Concrete Canoe Competition, which took place in Seattle, the team will also be invited to participate in the 30th Annual Dutch Concrete Canoe Challenge in the Netherlands in September.

The team's closest competitors were the University of Florida in second place with the blue, orange and grey, 135-pound, Gladigator, and the University of Nevada, Reno in third place with the white and blue, 177-pound, Cerulean. The 2007 ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition teams in order of final rank are:
 

1. University of Wisconsin-Madison
2. University of Florida
3. University of Nevada, Reno
4. Western Kentucky University
5. California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
6. New Mexico State University
7. University of Oklahoma
8. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona University
9. University of Wisconsin-Platteville
10. Michigan Technological University
11. University of Washington
12. Ohio Northern University
13. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
14. Ecole de technologie superieure
15. Washington State University
16. University of Maine
17. North Carolina State University
18. University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
19. Mississippi State
20. University of Houston
21. Fairmont State University
22. City College of New York

The three-day event, organized by ASCE and hosted by hosted by the University of Washington, was made possible by the support of founding sponsor BASF Construction Chemicals, as well as the American Concrete Institute (ACI), Baker Construction, Inc., Bentley Systems Incorporated, Holcim Inc., Norchem, ICS Penetron, Pennoni Associates Inc., Propex Concrete Systems and U.S. Silica Company.