Civil engineering students from Union and 18 other
institutions meet Saturday at Collins Pond in Scotia to see if concrete
floats.
The College is hosting the New York/New England Regional
Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers on Saturday, an
event that is to feature the concrete canoe races and a timed
bridge-building competition.
The canoe races are slated for Saturday from 11 a.m. to
5 p.m. at Collins Pond. The bridge competition will be from 9 to 5 p.m. in
Memorial Field House. Awards will be presented at a banquet at 7 p.m. at
the Ramada Inn on Nott Street.
Stories abound of canoes and canoeists dumped into
chilly spring waters. Take last year, when Cornell's boat broke in half,
or 1998 when Clarkson's failed the swamp test and sank to the bottom.
The challenge for the engineers is to make the canoe as
light and strong as possible, explained Christine Laplante, assistant
professor of civil engineering, and an ASCE chapter advisor. By using
additives and a mesh form, the students can create a lightweight concrete
and fashion a smooth, fast hull.
Students in the steel bridge competition, sponsored by
the American Institute of Steel Construction, will reassemble the spans
they have taken a term to create. They will be judged on time, deflection
under load, weight and aesthetics.