Float or sink? Students test concrete canoes at Tempe Town Lake

TEMPE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Float or sink?

Engineering students from across the Southwest met at the docks of Tempe Town Lake Marina for a unique competition; making a concrete canoe stay afloat.

"It's just, you know, an engineering challenge," said Ian Connair, a student at Northern Arizona University. "These guys will be working with materials a lot in their future and coming up with innovative designs and things like that to try and do something that seems impossible to a lot of people."

The educational competition was a fun way to get students and the community involved with hoe engineering works outside of the classroom.

"Every team is able to be here, they're all out here, they're all cheering for themselves, they're cheering for competition," Stephen Phillips said. "NAU and ASU might be cheering for them, might not be cheering University of Arizona, but that's all part of the competition. This is a great area to meet, make friends with other people from the universities, and these relationships carry on throughout their professional careers."

And to prove that, in theory, concrete boats can float.

On April 14, the concrete canoe races continue at Tempe Town Lake with sprint and endurance competitions for the engineering students.

Concrete Canoe Competition
ASU - asce.engineering.asu.edu/concrete-canoe
NAU - cefns.nau.edu
UofA - uofaasce.com/concrete-canoe.html