Innovative concrete canoe takes bronze
At the regatta in Brandenburg, the team from ETH Zurich’s concrete canoe club took third place in the Construction category. The canoe was created by the budding civil engineers as part of a Bachelor’s thesis at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.
The competition was fierce: around 1,000 students from all over Europe took part in the 19th German Concrete Canoe Regatta in Brandenburg. Once again this year, the ETH delegation entered two canoes in the race. One was built by the club members in their free time, while the other was created as part of a Bachelor’s thesis in the Group of Building Materials. The latter won the bronze medal for innovative construction. What’s special about the winning canoe is that it consists of 13 individual parts that can be assembled and disassembled quickly and can also be used as furniture.
Bachelor’s thesis canoe: “Vera VErTHo”
With a name derived from the Harry Potter spell “Vera Verto”, which transforms a small animal into a goblet of water, the “Vera VErTHo” canoe can also lead a second life after the regatta. Its 13 parts are composed of a specially developed ecological concrete mix with carbon fibre reinforcement, held together by six steel wires and screws. Using extended reality (XR) instructions, the individual parts of the canoe can also be put together differently and thus converted into camping chairs and loungers. With its special focus on the principles of the circular economy, the Vera VErTHo won over the jury of experts.
The winning canoe is part of a Bachelor’s thesis by Ali Özdemir, Carolin Braun, Curdin Zumbrunn and Tim Pianzola, who were also largely responsible for developing the concept. Further information on materials and construction technology is available here (in German).
Club canoe: “AprETHski”
This canoe also focused on sustainability, albeit in a different way. The reinforcement was designed entirely from recycled and renewable materials, and the cement used has a small ecological footprint. Specifically, the team used old carbon-fibre ski poles as reinforcement, working them into the cement with two linen nets. An old canoe served as the basic framework and was removed once the material had hardened.
“AprETHski” was developed and built by members of the ETH concrete canoe club. Further information on materials and construction technology is available here (in German).
Concrete Canoe Regatta
The 19th Concrete Canoe Regatta took place on 14 and 15 June 2024 in Brandenburg on the River Havel. A total of 133 teams representing 43 institutions from Germany and other countries competed, paddling their self-built concrete canoes on the river. There were 66 canoes in the competition class and 7 boats in the open class. ETH Zurich won third place in the Best Construction category.