Colorado State University Students Invite Regional Teams to Test Their 'Metal' at Annual Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe Competitions
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| Steel bridge teammates perform a load test on their bridge. |
While making rocks float may seem like an April Fool's joke, engineering students from the Rocky Mountain region will attempt to do just that as they race full-sized canoes made entirely of reinforced concrete April 1-3. The Concrete Canoe Competition is one of two regional civil engineering student contests hosted by the Colorado State University American Society of Civil Engineers this spring.
During the two-day Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Conference, professional engineers will judge students' ingenuity at designing, fabricating and constructing concrete canoes and reinforced steel bridges. Undergraduate students in the College of Engineering at Colorado State annually create unique canoes and bridges for the Annual Regional Conference, which is hosted by a different school each year. Colorado State University last hosted the national steel bridge competition in 1998.
Students from 11 other colleges will join Colorado State students as they test their project designs. The competing teams are from Brigham Young University, Colorado School of Mines, the University of Colorado-Boulder, Metropolitan State College, New Mexico University, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of Utah, Utah State University and the University of Wyoming.
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Steel bridges will be tested April 2 starting at 1 p.m. at the Larimer County Fairgrounds in Loveland, Colo. Each team will compare its bridge or canoe with other schools' designs in a competition similar to a professional bidding process. Steel bridge teams must prove that their projects meet the 25-foot length requirement and can carry at least 2,500 pounds. Teams will be awarded prizes based on: construction speed, lightness, aesthetics, stiffness, construction economy, structural efficiency, and overall performance. The teams also will give oral presentations explaining their bridge designs.
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Concrete canoe teams will race their boats at City Park Lake on April 3 beginning at noon. The canoes generally range in length from eight to 24 feet and can weigh as little as 50 pounds or as much as 1000 pounds. Students from each team will paddle the watercrafts in men's, women's and co-ed slalom/endurance and sprint races. Final scores will be based on the canoes' structural integrity and the teams' oral presentations, design papers and canoe races.
Members of the Northern Branch of the Colorado ASCE will conduct the judging for both competitions. The top two finalists of each competition will advance to the National Steel Bridge Competition in Golden, Colo. in May and the National Concrete Canoe Competition in Washington, D.C. in June.
The College of Engineering invites alumni and friends to attend the competition's opening barbeque on April 1 at 7 p.m. at the Water Plaza on the Colorado State University campus.
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| The 2000 CSU team tests their canoe in the men's sprint race. The crew and "The Yellow Submarine" placed 2nd in the event. |
The competition is being sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Master Builders, Inc.
For more information or if you are interested in attending the barbeque, please contact Marilee Rowe at (970) 491-5247.
Visit the CSU 2004 ASCE Student Conference webpage to read more about the event.