The typical sidewalk-treader might not think too much of the concrete underfoot. But we should—it’s an incredible material. It dams our rivers, steadies our skyscrapers, and keeps the Roman Pantheon standing—after more than 2,000 years.

If you make it right, it’ll even float.

Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) puts on the National Concrete Canoe Competition, for which engineering undergraduates formulate, troubleshoot, sift, mix, and cast concrete canoes. Then they race them.

More than 250 ASCE student chapters from the U.S. and Canada compete in the regional competitions. But the competition is as stiff as the stone they race; only a handful of teams make it to nationals. To win, students must not only craft a stone canoe and paddle it speedily down a river–they also need to earn top scores for the canoe design, technical write-up, and oral presentation.

Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA made their canoe debut in 2005. They started out with a bang—taking regionals, and winning 17^th place in the national competition. Since then though, it’s been a challenge: in 2006, they took third in the regional challenge and won fifth in 2007. But since then, they haven’t placed.

But this time, headed up by sophomore Joe Jazwicz, Wentworth’s canoe club team is starting earlier, running more cement experiments, and busting out the creativity.

It’s a crew race—engineer-style.