Students from the Luke Snell Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville took first place for cost category in the Mortar Workability Competition at the 2019 ACI Concrete Convention and Exposition held March 24-28 in Quebec, Canada.
Participating SIUE students included chapter president Dalton Brookshire, of Nokomis, and vice president David Rall, of Belleville. Both Brookshire and Rall are seniors in the School of Engineering’s Department of Construction. Faculty Advisor Anne Werner, PhD, PE, also supported the winning efforts in Quebec.
The Mortar Workability Competition involves student teams mixing mortar on-site. The flowability and stability of the fresh mortar mixture are evaluated, along with the economy of the mix ingredients and proportions. The competition emulates how concrete producers must pay attention to detail to ensure they meet specification and project requirements on a daily basis.
“Winning this subset of the main mortar workability competition is a real accomplishment for these students,” Werner said. “They worked incredibly hard. We’re proud of the way they represented our outstanding Luke Snell Chapter of the ACI at SIUE.”
The students’ first place prize consists of recognition on ACI Student Competitions Mortar Workability Competition winners webpage, individual certificates, recognition in Concrete International magazine and a $750 cash award.
Photo: (L-R) Luke Snell Chapter of the ACI at SIUE faculty advisor Anne Werner, PhD, PE, vice president David Rall, president Dalton Brookshire, and SIUE professor emeritus Luke Snell, PE.