YSU students demonstrate concrete canoe, jigsaw bridge

Building a canoe out of concrete is just one of the engineering challenges.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- They call their craft "Eleanor" after a speedy Shelby Cobra GT 500 in the movie "Gone In 60 Seconds."
Students in the Youngstown State University chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers don't expect their 21-foot concrete canoe to have anywhere near the speed of the car stolen by Nicholas Cage in the film, but they think it will fare well in the ASCE 2006 Ohio Valley Regional Conference competition next weekend at Cincinnati State University. Some 13 schools will compete, include Ohio State and Carnegie-Mellon University.
Cage nicknamed the stolen car "Eleanor," and the YSU engineering students followed the theme, coloring their canoe silver and black, giving it racing stripes and even inlaying a black concrete cobra in the bottom of the craft.
The name Eleanor and the Youngstown State University name, as well as the racing stripes, were also all done as inlaid black concrete, making them stand out against the silver hull.
It's concrete reinforced with steel strands and carbon fiber, said Ryan Murphy, a senior from New Brighton, Pa., and the official canoe captain. The canoe will be powered by two or four paddlers, depending upon which race it is in. There are five races in the competition.
Required tests
Although the students have been hauling the canoe to Lake Glacier since last fall for test runs for the big racing competition at Cincinnati, they invited the press to witness the first buoyancy test of the craft Friday.
As part of the competition, the canoe has to be completely submerged and then float to the surface on its own.
The students also demonstrated the assembly of a 21-foot 8-inch steel bridge that must successfully withstand the application of 2,500 pounds of weight during the bridge portion of the engineering event.
The bridge is in pieces, and they must assemble it in less than 30 minutes or face a time penalty.
Bill Pitoscia, a junior from Hubbard and president of YSU ASCE, said there are actually six competitions at the regional challenge. Students are assigned to particular events but work on all of the competition projects at some point, he said.
The events give the students an opportunity to apply classroom theory to real projects and they help teach about working in groups and time management, Pitoscia said.
The design work on the canoe and bridge both began nearly nine months ago.
Participants
Members of the canoe team are: Murphy; Laura Bryer of Lowellville; Carlie Ghioldi of Canfield; Halley Moore of New Waterford; Dennis Flynn of Union Township, Pa.; Kevin Lynch of Shelby, Ohio; and Kevin Shifflet of Mecca.
Bridge team members are Steven Cox of Columbus, Adam DePizzo of Austintown, Tyler Drombosky of Boardman, Mike Lyda of North Lima, Lynch and Murphy.
Participating in the wastewater treatment plant competition are Jon Bolha of Austintown and Timothy Sturges of Brookfield.
Members of the land surveying team are Pitoscia, Flynn, Lyda and Paul Rauschenberg of Austintown.
Rauschenberg will also handle the autocad computer drafting competition, and Pitoscia will represent YSU in the technical paper competition.
Oh, yes -- the canoe, which weighs only about 150 pounds, bobbed back to the surface quite nicely during Friday's test. The bridge assembly took just 11 minutes.
gwin@vindy.com