ACC Concrete Tech Students Put Their Skills To The Test In A Concrete Canoe Race

Students from the Alpena Community College concrete tech program, built and raced canoes they built out of concrete in the Northern Lights Arena pond.

“It actually comes out of the American Society of Civil Engineers, they do concrete canoe races and so, we kind of implement it into our precast, prestress concrete” said Eric Kennedy, instructor of Alpena Community College, concrete tech program.

The students spent the majority of the semester working on their canoes for the race.

“Each day we went to build came up to this, so we planned to race them and it went well” said Gage Kangas, an ACC concrete tech student and canoe race winner.

“I knew we were going to sink. We were, it was like three weeks ago, we’ve just pulled the canoe out of the form there and we dump water on the bottom of it. Water went straight through the canoe, so we’re like we’re going to sink” said Jake Morrison, an ACC concrete tech student.

The students used various materials to help make their canoes stay afloat in the water.

“How we get the canoe to float is, it’s all made with lightweight sand. We put a lot of air in it to make it lighter” said Kangas.

Through the competition, the students were able to work on both their craftsmanship and team building skills.

“I think it was fun. And I think it’s something where students really get involved in kind of managing a team and kind of, they all got different roles to play within it. From treasurer to, mixed design, to all design, to a team captain. You know, to really kind of bringing it together and working as a team that you’re going to do in any part of the industry” said Kennedy.

Kennedy is proud of the work and effort his students put into their canoes and he’s happy that none of their boats sank during the competition.