CME.13 – Design and Construction of the UIC Concrete Canoe

• Jimena Adame
• Nathan Agoncillo
• Christopher Brown
• Alexander Schroth
• Sebastian Stankiewicz
• Dominik Wieckowicz

ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) is a professional body that hosts university competitions to encourage students to apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom onto a real life project. One of these events is a competition called the ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition. This competition aims to apply students’ knowledge of the mechanical properties of concrete with structural analysis while also experimenting with different construction techniques. The four main engineering aspects that are incorporated in this project are hull design, construction processes and techniques, structural analysis, and concrete mix design. This year, the UIC concrete canoe team aimed to optimize these aspects through the following. The hull was designed to optimize both the top speed and buoyancy force to create a fast canoe that will ensure it does not sink. The construction process aimed to revolutionize the traditional method used by the team by incorporating plastic films to quicken the process as well as utilize tensile support along the gunwales to prevent major cracking. The structural analysis was used to affirm that the canoe will not fail due to the compressive, tensile, and punching shear forces the canoe will experience while floating on the water. The mix design process mainly involved executing several different combinations of mix types with varying amounts of lightweight materials and combinations. These several iterations were carried out to ensure high tensile and compressive strength while also keeping the density as low as possible, as the primary function of the canoe is to float. The results of the canoe show that this year’s design uses the various techniques university student’s learn throughout their academic career.