A group of students from Missouri University of Science and Technology is
heading to Arkansas to see how well their concrete canoe floats.

The University of Arkansas is hosting a regional concrete canoe competition
April 18-19 in Fayetteville. Each of the dozen or so university teams must
prove that their canoe can float during a “swamp test” prior to racing
events.

The competition features two- and four-person races, including coed
races.

The Missouri S&T team finished in the middle of the pack last year in
Lawrence, Kan., the site of the 2007 regional competition.This year’s host
team, the University of Arkansas, capsized its 2007 canoe, which was
appropriately called “The Hogtanic.”

Missouri S&T’s 2007 canoe, “Dangerous Curves,” was nearly 20 feet long.
The 2008 canoe is called “Shamrock.”

“We used the same general design that was successful with last year’s
canoe,” says 2008 S&T team member Joshua Mongler, “but we lowered the walls
and shortened the overall length to make it lighter and easier to paddle and
turn in the water.”

Normal concrete used in a construction project weighs about 150 pounds per
cubic foot. For these canoes, lighter aggregate mixtures of concrete are used.
In order to float, the concrete must weigh less than the unit weight of water,
which is 62.4 pounds per cubic foot.

“This year, we used glass granulated microspheres as one of our concrete
aggregates, which helps us lower our concrete density and raise our strength,”
says Mongler, a senior in chemical engineering from Rolla.

The following are members of Missouri S&T’s 2008 Concrete Canoe
Team:

– Ashley Becherer, a senior in architectural engineering from O’Fallon,
Mo.

– Brett Benhoff, a senior in civil engineering from Breese, Ill.

– Kendrick Callaway, a senior in economics from Orick, Mo.

– Mark Ezzell, a senior in architectural engineering from East Peoria,
Ill.

– Diane Franken, a graduate student in geological engineering from High
Ridge, Mo.

– Yasmin Hassen, a senior in civil engineering from Oakland, Calif.

– Miranda Jones, a senior in civil engineering from Harrisburg, Ill.

– Alexander Marler, a junior in civil engineering from St. Louis

– Joshua Mongler, a senior in chemical engineering from Rolla

– Andrew Nelson, a senior in civil engineering from Billings, Mo.

– Edward Noonan, a freshman in architectural engineering from Andover,
Mass.

– Dylan Ream, a junior in architectural engineering from Sparta, Mo.

– Katie Rose, a junior in civil engineering from Germantown, Tenn.

– Eric Roth, a senior in civil engineering from Jackson, Mo.

– Jesse Scott, a senior in environmental engineering from Rolla

– Kevin Simms, a senior in mechanical engineering from Kansas City, Mo.

– Matthew Struemph, a sophomore in civil engineering from Watkinsville,
Ga.

– Nichole Stuckey, a senior in architectural engineering from Wentzville,
Mo.

– Rachel Swearingin, a senior in environmental engineering from Lawson,
Mo.

– Andrea Tyler, a senior in civil engineering from Wood River, Ill.

– Matthew Vitello, a graduate student in geological engineering from Holts
Summit, Mo.

– Dave Wieidinger, a graduate student in civil engineering from Vienna,
Mo.

– Kaye Wibbenmeyer, a senior in civil engineering from Victoria, Texas.