Civil Engineering Students Place Third at Concrete Competition

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Matthew Watters and Kaisha Plambeck display their pervious concrete

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The team of civil engineering students Kaisha Plambeck and Matthew Watters placed third at the 2013 American Concrete Institute's Pervious Concrete Cylinder Competition in Phoenix on Oct. 20.

Plambeck, a senior, and Watters, a junior Honors College student, placed third in the Cylinder Performance Category. The students won $250 and will be featured in a future publication of Concrete International Magazine. Plambeck and Watters, along with faculty advisor Frances Griffith, competed against 31 teams from across the world.

"We are excited about our students' success at the ACI competition," said Kevin Hall, head of the department of civil engineering. "Both Kaisha and Matthew are terrific ambassadors for our program and the university. Our students and faculty leaders, Frances Griffith and Micah Hale, have made a positive and lasting impact at the American Concrete Institute."

The students made a cylinder of pervious concrete, which is unlike traditional concrete because it has voids which allow water to pass through into the soil below the concrete. This helps reduce stormwater runoff and prevents flash flooding and erosion because the water does not stay above ground. Pervious concrete is mostly used for flat surfaces and pavements like parking lots and trails.

Plambeck and Watters began designing their pervious concrete mixture in August and tested several mixes before choosing one to take to competition. The students developed four mixtures of concrete using several elements including rock, cement, fly ash, water and a chemical ad-mixture.

Watters said the initial mix designs didn't turn out as expected, but he and his teammate overcame the challenge.

"It was a learning experience about how you handle something when things go wrong," Griffith said.

Along with the concrete cylinder, students were required to turn in a paper explaining their design.

At the conference, the students also attended sessions, talked to professionals from the concrete industry, networked with potential employers and met students from around the world. Watters plans to attend the next ACI Convention, which will take place in the spring of 2014 in Reno, Nev. For that competition, students will design and construct a fiber-reinforce concrete bowling ball.