All posts by Nick Halsey

Concrete Canoe, PSWC, Steel Bridge

PSWC 2014 Day 3: Awards Banquet

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At the PSWC Awards Banquet, all of the conference attendees gather for a nice dinner and to celebrate their victories at PSWC. We went in expecting to place top-three in maybe one of the smaller events. But we came out with our best year overall since 1994, placing 3rd overall thanks to the hard work of our entire team. Check out the details of our results here.

  • Scavenger Hunt – 1st Place Acceptance
  • Steel Bridge – 3rd Place Overall Acceptance
  • Full Concrete Canoe results sheet
  • USC – 3rd place overall!
  • USC ASCE: PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Celebration
  • USC ASCE: PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Celebration
  • Our President, Elise, with our PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Award
  • Our President, VP, and Advisor with our PSWC 2014 3rd Place Overall Plaque
  • Steel Bridge Team: 3rd Place Overall
  • Steel Bridge Team: 3rd place in Lightness and Construction Speed
  • Our 1st-place-winning Scavenger Hunt Team
  • USC ASCE Pacific Southwest Conference 2014 team picture.
    2014 USC ASCE PSWC Team, with our awards!
  • President’s speech after the ceremony.
Misc. PSWC Events, PSWC

PSWC 2014 Day 3: Concrete Bowling

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Our concrete bowling team created a Wilson-themed bowling ball, only to discover that two other schools had the same theme. Next year we’ll be more creative! It bowled well, resulting in a respectable showing.

  • 2014 Concrete Bowling Team
  • Preparing to throw the concrete bowling ball.
  • The bowling lane. It was slightly uphill.
  • A successful first throw.
  • Rolling the ball, made difficult by the lack of finger holes.
  • Tedman throws the ball.
  • Kelvin lines up his throw.
  • Concrete bowling throw windup.
  • It looks like he’s going to give it a nice gentle roll, but that won’t work.
  • A bouncing approach to concrete bowling.
  • Another successful throw!
  • Last official throw.
  • Non-bowling team members had a lot more trouble – guess the practice worked!
  • Some of us have more acrobatic concrete bowling techniques than others.

Geotech, PSWC

PSWC 2014 Day 3: Geotechnical Competition

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Our geotech team had a pretty successful competition, with their wall holding through all but one loading test.

  • Drawing out the reinforcement scheme.
  • Measurements for reinforcement placement.
  • Build team ready to go.
  • Team huddle.
  • Measuring & cutting reinforcing strips.
  • Measuring reinforcing paper.
  • Measuring reinforcing paper.
  • Loading the box & building the wall.
  • Sand, ready to be loaded into the wall.
  • Packing the sand in.
  • Loading sand into the box.
  • Build complete!
  • Applying the external loads.
  • The wall’s holding!
  • “Let’s do this”
Concrete Canoe, PSWC

PSWC 2014 Day 2: Concrete Canoe Races

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The main event of PSWC Day 2 is the Concrete Canoe Race Competition. All 16 schools with functional canoes compete in 5 events:

  • Men’s Endurance/Slalom (time-based)
  • Women’s Endurance/Slalom
  • Men’s Sprints (Heats, Small & Big Finals)
  • Women’s Sprints
  • Co-ed Double-sprints (4-person)

Our canoe successfully made it through all of the races, and looked great in the process!

  • Early morning at the site of the canoe races. We arrived around 6:30am.
  • Unloading the canoe for the races.
  • Bringing the canoe to our spot on the beach.
  • Preparing to set the canoe down on its beach stands.
  • DiSCovery II waits to get into the water.
  • Our President and VP handle the canoe’s gunwale caps.
  • Canoe team, getting ready for the swamp test.
  • Carrying DiSCovery II into the water for the first time.
  • DiSCovery II floats!
  • We have to completely submerge our canoe, then prove that it floats back to the surface, to pass the swamp test.
  • Filling the canoe with water.
  • Our cheering squad watches from the beach, hoping our canoe floats.
  • Filling the canoe with water.
  • Time to push DiSCovery II completely underwater.
  • Release the canoe, and don’t touch it, while the judges watch.
  • DiSCovery II passes the swamp test!
  • Bailing the water back out of DiSCovery II.
  • Bringing DiSCovery II back onto the beach while we wait for the races to begin.
  • Attaching gunwale caps to the edges of the canoe, to protect them while paddling.
  • Loading the canoe for the Men’s Endurance race.
  • Sending DiSCovery II off for her first race.
  • Men’s endurance.
  • Lining up for the men’s endurance race.
  • The rest of the team prepares to cheer our paddlers on from the beach.
  • Waiting for the men’s endurance race to begin.
  • Men’s endurance.
  • Men’s endurance.
  • Coming in from the men’s endurance race.
  • One race down, 4 to go!
  • Waiting for the other schools to race.
  • Watching our women’s endurance team head out.
  • Women’s endurance.
  • Co-ed sprints.
  • Waiting for the women’s endurance team to line up.
  • Digging in for a turn. The endurance slalom races challenge teams with a series of tight turns around buoys.
  • Women’s endurance.
  • Women’s endurance.
  • Women’s endurance.
  • Women’s endurance.
  • Women’s endurance heading in.
  • Men’s sprints lining up.
  • Men’s sprints heading in after finishing 2nd in the heat.
  • Men’s sprints coming in after winning the small final (by only a second)!
  • Relaxing on the beach between races.
  • Small-final-winning men’s sprints team after their last race.
  • Women’s sprints team practicing.
  • Women’s sprints team heading out.
  • Women’s sprints.
  • Cheering for the women’s sprints team.
  • Women’s sprints lining up.
  • Women’s sprints.
  • Women’s sprints.
  • Women’s sprints.
  • Judges’ scoreboard after all the heats, with lane assignments for the finals.
  • Co-ed sprints team heads out.
  • Concrete canoe team members race their canoe at PSWC 2014.
    Co-ed sprints.
  • Co-ed sprints.
  • Co-ed sprints.
  • Co-ed sprints team comes in after winning their heat!
  • 2014 Concrete Canoe Paddling Team.
  • 2014 Concrete Canoe Team.
  • 2014 USC ASCE PSWC Team.
  • Time to bring the canoe back home.
  • We don’t really need this many people to help carry it, but everyone wants to help!
  • Carrying the canoe back from the beach.
  • Loading DiSCovery II back into the trailer.