Celebrating Concrete!
Exhibition, Carnival, Race Come to D.C.It is a building material both ubiquitous and extraordinary. Concrete is in the sidewalks beneath our feet, in the skyscrapers that tower above our heads and the walls that surround us. Yet this ordinary, everyday material has many surprising and fascinating properties. In celebration of this versatile substance, Washington, D.C.'s National Building Museum, in collaboration with the American Society of Civil Engineers and Master Builders, Inc. and with support from Lafarge, is holding a Concrete Carnival family festival on June 19 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to educate visitors about concrete through fun hands-on activities and demonstrations.
The American Society of Civil Engineers and Master Builders will be presenting portions of their 17th annual National Concrete Canoe Competition as part of this festival, including student presentations and canoe floatation tests. Visitors can watch the tests and enjoy direct interaction with the competing team members, while also examining the variety of canoes. On Sunday, June 20, the student teams will take their canoes to Lake Fairfax in Reston, Virginia, for a series of races.
"Many people never give concrete a second thought—and fewer still understand how versatile and interesting it can be," said Master Builders. President and CEO Mike Shydlowski. "It's easy to think that concrete will simply sink like a stone, and yet 22 teams of students will prove not only that it can float, but that it can be used to build racing-caliber water craft."
The festival also celebrates the opening of the Museum's exhibition Liquid Stone: New Architecture in Concrete and will teach children and their families about the properties and uses of concrete with kid-friendly educational activities.
"Concrete makes up a major part of our built environment," says Ed Worthy, vice president for education at the National Building Museum. "What better way to get this concept across to people of all ages than to hold the National Concrete Canoe Competition at the Museum at the same time we open our major new exhibition on the topic and organize a festival to give people hands-on experiences with the substance."
But can concrete capture the attention of children? Absolutely. Just ask Rocky. Ask him anything, in fact, as long as it's a question about concrete. Lafarge's mascot will be walking around the festival discussing aspects of concrete and answering questions. Children can quiz him on their way to the Concrete Petting Zoo, which will feature different kinds of concrete ready to be touched and felt, or while climbing into the cab of a ready-mix concrete truck.
The carnival will also include several hands-on experiments for the young people that demonstrate the following: "Flinker," or substances that neither float nor sink in water, but stay suspended; concrete to make decorative items such as paperweights; concrete to eat?made up of graham cracker crumbs, confectioner's sugar and a liquid mixture; concrete made as a result of a chemical reaction that causes a change in physical properties; concrete to channel water in a specific direction.
"These simple experiments are designed to make people consider how extraordinary the ordinary can be," said ASCE President Patricia D. Galloway, P.E., F.ASCE, PMP. "When visitors walk outside after the festival, they'll have a new appreciation for the substance below their feet."
Liquid Stone Exhibition
The Concrete Carnival family festival also celebrates the opening of the exhibition Liquid Stone: New Architecture in Concrete at the National Building Museum. The exhibition will open at 10 a.m. on June 19 and will be on view through January 23, 2005. Sponsored by Lafarge, the exhibition will feature nearly 30 recent or current architectural projects that use concrete as an essential aspect of the design. Stations in the exhibition will describe the technology used in the projects. The projects will be divided into three categories: Structure, Surface and Sculptural Form. The exhibition will conclude with The Future of Concrete, which will examine up and coming concrete technologies and hybrids, such as translucent concrete.
Concrete Canoe
As part of Celebrating Concrete the American Society of Civil Engineers and Master Builders will present the 17th annual ASCE/MBT National Concrete Canoe Competition. Visitors to the National Building Museum on Saturday, June 19 can watch canoe floatation tests and enjoy direct interaction with the competing teams, while examining the variety of canoes on display. On Sunday, June 20, the student teams will take their canoes to Lake Fairfax in Reston, Virginia, for a series of races. Representatives from 22 colleges and universities will compete to win $9,000 in scholarship prizes from Master Builders. The winners will take home the scholarship prizes and more importantly, bragging rights as the champions in what has been called civil engineering's America's Cup. Additional sponsors of this year's competition are Baker Concrete Construction of Monroe, Ohio, CEMEX USA, a subsidiary of Mexico-based CEMEX, and U.S. Silica Company of Berkeley Spring, West Virginia.
Concrete canoe races have been held since the 1960s, but concrete has been used in boat building since 1848 and was widely used to build barges during World War I, when steel was scarce. ASCE began holding national concrete canoe races in 1988.
The participating students are judged on the engineering design and construction, a written report and an oral presentation, and the races. They participate in five different events: men's and women's slalom/endurance races, men's and women's sprint races and a coed sprint race.
For more information contact Joan Buhrman at 703-295-6406 or 571-213-3812 (cell phone), or Kelly Mawby at 216-839-7071 or 216-780-5964 (cell phone). Information can also be obtained at http://www.asce.org/inside/nccc2004/press.cfm. For more information on the Concrete Carnival and the exhibition Liquid Stone exhibit visit www.nbm.org. For more information about the National Concrete Canoe Competition visit www.asce.org/inside/nccc2004.
Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 133,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2002.
Founded in 1909, Master Builders, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative chemical and mineral admixtures used in the production of specialty and high quality concrete used in the ready mix, precast, manufactured concrete products, paving and underground markets. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Master Builders, Inc. operates as part of Degussa Construction Chemicals, the largest manufacturer of construction chemicals worldwide. The parent company, Degussa AG, is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany and is the world's largest specialty chemical company.
Baker Concrete Construction, Inc. — "A great company to work with and a great place to work." Baker Concrete Construction Inc., was founded in 1968 in Oxford, Ohio. Baker presently operates throughout the continental United States and is committed to building upon a tradition of creating concrete solutions from concept to completion into the 21st century.
CEMEX — a leading global producer and distributor of cement, and one of the largest ready mix companies in the U.S.
U. S. Silica Company —Produces high purity silica, kaolin, aplite.
The National Building Museum is America's premier cultural institution dedicated to exploring and celebrating architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning. The Museum is located at 401 F Street NW, Washington, D.C. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Public inquiries: 202.272.2448 or visit www.nbm.org.
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