Every year KOers, the study association for Structural Design, tries to come up with an innovative canoe for the Concrete Canoe Race. This year they chose to go the sustainable route, says Derk Bos, a member of the Concrete Canoe Race Committee. “As cement hardens CO₂ is released, which is bad for the environment. So we were looking for a material whose CO₂ had already been depleted. We found paving slabs among the rubble, sawed off the corners, and puzzled a boat together.” A rubbery sealant, of the kind used to seal tunnels under water, was used to join the slabs together.

The result was a concrete canoe. Retract that. A heavy concrete canoe - 400 kilo in the raw. “It was a hassle getting it into the water - a group of us carried it in wrapped in strapping - but we managed it. It didn't sink and we won the prize for the most sustainable and heaviest canoe,” says Bos proudly.

Admiration

The paving slab canoe was not the only Eindhoven boat that went to Den Bosch; also taken along were three ‘normal’ concrete canoes made by KOers. With some thirty people, KOers made the trip to Den Bosch for the race. “We attracted a lot of attention, that was really fun.”

For the time being, the showpiece is lying on the grass behind Vertigo where it can be admired. Its days on the water are over, says Bos. “It has been baptized and that is enough. It is pretty heavy to move about on dry land.”