GRAFTON, W.Va. — For the first time, West Virginia is the site of the American Society of Civil Engineers 2026 Civil Engineering Student Championships.
Fairmont State University is the host institution and the competition is being held at Tygart Lake thru Sunday.
Professor Tabitha Lafferre, associate professor of civil engineering technology, said the concrete canoe races happened Friday along with a skills competition is happening near the dam.
“The concrete canoe races are underway,” Lafferre said. “We’ve got some slalom races and sprint races at the marina at Tygart Lake.”
Fairmont State President Mike Davis said they plan to have more summer events on campus to bring more activity when most are preparing for the fall semester. This one brings more than 500 people to the campus with an international competition for the campus and local residents.
“We’ve got a couple of teams from China who have come to West Virginia; a couple of teams from India; we have a team from Canada that has come; and we have teams from all over the country,” Lafferre said.
The concrete used to make a canoe for the competition is much different than the mix you would see used in sidewalks or bridges. This mix contains glass microspheres, hollow ceramic beads, and pumice along with polyvinyl alcohol to make a buoyant vessel.
“The students use aggregates that float on their own typically to create concrete that floats on its own,” Lafferre said. “It still has cement as a binder, but we use cementitious materials in this concrete.”
Each team is able to design and build the design they believe will be most effective, and that means there are canoes of all types. The competition also includes exhibition teams from high schools in the region.
“Ours this year weighs about 220 pounds, and I think the lightest one is about 150 pounds, and the heaviest weighed in at about 700 pounds, so there’s a wide range,” Lafferre said.