Construction of Concrete Canoe using Light Weight Aggregates

Abstract

The history of construction of concrete boats and canoes extends as far back to World War II in 1939, however the first concrete boat was constructed in 1848 in France. Due to the shortage of timber and steel during the World Wars, concrete boats came into action. The construction of a concrete canoe requires the usage of light weight concrete where the conventional coarse aggregates are replaced by lightweight aggregates. Neglecting the hydrodynamic effects, all boats and ships float on the surface of water due to their capacity to displace the weight of water with the weight of the boat. In a Concrete canoe we are using lightweight concrete mixes to enhance the strength parameters of the canoe along with reducing its weight so that it can acquire the desired floating property. Usually concrete boats and ships were commercially constructed using Ferro cement. Since the materials of construction are readily available and cheap many of the Naval structures were earlier profoundly constructed using concrete. But as time passed by, the rising of the labour costs and operating difficulties the industry faced lack of investments which eventually brought it to an abrupt stop. The efforts to inculcate and develop innovative ideas and Engineering skills by the American Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE) brought about a turn of events in the concrete canoe construction process. Now each year students from various parts of the globe meet and compete with each other in the National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC). This study which was established to compete in the National Concrete Canoe Competition, deals with the construction of a concrete canoe having perfect floating property including sufficient stability and adequate compressive strength.