ABSTRACTS OF THE 2008 CONCRETE CANOE MAGAZINE

The international epidemic of concrete canoing

By John A. Gilbert and Andrea L. Barnes

Concrete canoeing has become an international epidemic that has no apparent cure. But this paper addresses some of the symptoms associated with the disease and suggests one possible mechanism… for crowing the second undisputed Concrete Canoe Champion of the World. It includes an historical insight into international competition and some of the traditions that have been established. Observations are made regarding selected entries as well as the level of performance of the competitors and their potential for becoming involved at a higher level.

Internal Curing and Shrinkage Reducing Admixtures for Concrete Canoes

By Gaurav Sant, Ryan Henkensiefken and Brooks Bucher

The 2008 specifications for concrete mixtures used in canoe construction specify a water-cementitious materials (w/cm) ratio not greater than 0.40 (NCCC2008 rules). In previous years, teams participating in the competition have used fiber-reinforcement and shrinkage reducing admixtures to control cracking. While, these reduce the risk of cracking, the potential to crack still exists in the concrete. In this paper, the authors present a review of previous work which evaluated techniques such as shrinkage reducing admixtures and internal curing, which utilize saturated lightweight aggregate to minimize shrinkage cracking in concrete. First, the authors will review the mechanism of action of shrinkage reducing admixtures and saturated lightweight aggregate concrete. Further, the authors present results from the free and restrained shrinkage performance for a mortar, containing a shrinkage reducing admixture and saturated lightweight aggregate. The authors also discuss practical considerations of using shrinkage reducing admixtures and internal curing for concrete canoe construction.

Not So Secrets to Success

By David L. Blodgett

An overview of the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s strategy for success. Topics covered include, leadership succession, communication, team structure, and several guidelines to keep in mind throughout the concrete canoe competition process. Focus is given to simple, straightforward, effective strategies that the UW attributes to their success.

The Mysteries of the Concrete Canoe Oral Presentation

By Haley Kubinski, Mary Chapler, Melissa Cline and Kenny Stevens

There are very few guidelines as to what the oral presentation part of the concrete canoe competition should contain; especially when compared to the other three categories (final product, technical paper, races). This fact can make preparing for the presentation difficult, especially for people new to the sport. The article looks at the basics of a good presentation and contains recommendations concerning content, style and attention-grabbers. A list of do’s and don’ts is included along with suggestions meant to make the presentation a fun part of the competition process instead of the dreaded exercise it often turns out to be.

Concrete Canoe Paddling Tips

By Nancy Sirois

The concrete canoe competition is broken down into four major categories, one of which is the races. Racing the canoe is therefore a very important part of the challenge. Practically everybody has paddled a canoe but racing one is different. Several racing styles are available and suited for different races and different canoes. This article mainly covers tips on racing a concrete canoe with the Olympic style technique. The reader can appreciate general paddling tips and better understand the complexities behind the Olympic style paddling. It is the author’s intent to provide the reader with experience tips based on years of training.

Concrete Canoe Mix Designs Using MGA: A practical way to jump-start your mix
design process

By Matthew Clayton

The concrete mix design process is a demanding problem with conflicting goals. A mix design should be lightweight while maintaining acceptable strength and workability and these goals are often in direct conflict. Another problem is that strength and workability cannot be easily predicted in the mix design process. By mixing and testing different designs the trade-offs between density, strength, and workability can be explored and an optimal design can be found, but this can take weeks. In an effort to speed up the mix design process we will illustrate a mix design process using the Modeling to Generate Alternatives (MGA) approach to produce a variety of different mixes from which we can begin testing mix designs and more quickly and thoroughly converge on the optimum mix design.