RIT Concrete Canoe Team Paddles to Victory

Concrete canoe and steel bridge teams qualify for national competitions

Note: Digital photograph available

Rochester Institute of Technology’s concrete canoe team will go to nationals in June after capturing first place in regional competition April 26 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

In taking first place overall, RIT finished first in the co-ed, men’s and women’s sprint categories, first in the women’s endurance event, and third in the men’s endurance contest.

The regional-contest victory was RIT’s second consecutive and fourth since 1997. The team advances to the 16th annual National Concrete Canoe Competition, June 20-22, hosted by Drexel University in Philadelphia and sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

RIT’s 20-foot-long, 130-pound craft features a new hull design, a patriotic color scheme and a stained image of a tiger, RIT’s mascot.

In another regional competition on April 26 at RPI, RIT’s steel bridge team earned third place, qualifying it for nationals on May 24 in San Diego. In specific categories, RIT finished second in construction speed and economy, third in structural efficiency and weight, fourth in bridge stiffness, and fifth in aesthetics.

RIT’s concrete canoe and steel bridge teams are comprised of civil engineering technology undergraduate students in the university’s College of Applied Science and Technology.


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