Purple Line

CONCRETE CANOE

The Team Taken at Trine University where the 2013 ASCE Great Lakes Regional Conference was held.	Mix Design Though my knowledge of concrete was limited, the team did some rudimentary mix design and experimented with various aggregates including K1 Microspheres and Poraver.
Canoe Form The form was constructed from expanded polystyrene blocks that were 2' x 1' x 3' in dimension. The hull was designed using a standard hull design provided by ASCE.	Formwork Construction The cross-sections of the canoe were taken at 1 foot intervals and then cut out of particle board. The boards were then used as stencils for our makeshift hot wire cutter to cut the shape out of the blocks
Casting Concrete Purple Line was the first canoe I designed a solution to the thickness problem we saw in our previous canoe. By rolling uniformly thick slabs and then laying the slabs directly into the mold, we were able to better control the keep the thickness at a uniform 9/16".	Purple Line Emerges Purple Line after we took apart the form and prepped her for finishing,
Canoe Removal The canoe was removed 28 days after casting. Featured here are fellow project managers Michael Chen ('13) and Justin Lueker (14').	Swamp Test In order to confirm that the canoe would pass the swamp test, we conducted our own test in the local Skokie Channel. The canoe was filled with water and submerged, with the expectation that it would float back to the surface. It did.
Paddling Practice Paddling practices also occurred at the Skokie Channel and also the university aquatic center.	Staining To create the aesthetic of Purple Line, we used primarily black, white, and purple stains.
Purple Line

Maximum Length: 20 ft

Maximum Depth: 14 in

Maximum Width: 30 in

Hull Thickness: .75 in

Weight: 405 lbs

The purple line is inspired by the incredible civil engineering project: the Chicago public transit rail system, colloquially dubbed the "El". More specifically to Northwestern, the Purple Line on the El allows Northwestern students to easily access Chicago and it's many neighborhoods. We thought the sprawl of the system was a appropriate analogy for Northwestern Concrete Canoe's second canoe because we planned to improved on multiple aspects of the canoe including mix, construction, and paddling. Huge improvements were made from the previous years canoe, CaNU and the team was able to attain 6th place out of 14 competing schools at conference.

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CONCRETE CANOE

The Team

Taken at Trine University where the 2013 ASCE Great Lakes Regional Conference was held.

Mix Design

Though my knowledge of concrete was limited, the team did some rudimentary mix design and experimented with various aggregates including K1 Microspheres and Poraver.

Canoe Form

The form was constructed from expanded polystyrene blocks that were 2' x 1' x 3' in dimension. The hull was designed using a standard hull design provided by ASCE.

Formwork Construction

The cross-sections of the canoe were taken at 1 foot intervals and then cut out of particle board. The boards were then used as stencils for our makeshift hot wire cutter to cut the shape out of the blocks

Casting Concrete

Purple Line was the first canoe I designed a solution to the thickness problem we saw in our previous canoe. By rolling uniformly thick slabs and then laying the slabs directly into the mold, we were able to better control the keep the thickness at a uniform 9/16".

Purple Line Emerges

Purple Line after we took apart the form and prepped her for finishing,

Canoe Removal

The canoe was removed 28 days after casting. Featured here are fellow project managers Michael Chen ('13) and Justin Lueker (14').

Swamp Test

In order to confirm that the canoe would pass the swamp test, we conducted our own test in the local Skokie Channel. The canoe was filled with water and submerged, with the expectation that it would float back to the surface. It did.

Paddling Practice

Paddling practices also occurred at the Skokie Channel and also the university aquatic center.

Staining

To create the aesthetic of Purple Line, we used primarily black, white, and purple stains.