UDOT

At a time when one in six Utahns are at risk of going hungry, UDOT and its contractors are working to make a difference.

During the 2013 annual UDOT conference four teams of engineers from CH2MHILL, HDR, UDOT and Michael Baker Corporation/Wadsworth Construction showed off their design skills during their first ever Canstruction design/build competition.

“I’m so proud of this year’s Canstruction event participants and want to thank each of them for making this a successful first year. These donations will help several families in need over the coming holidays,” said CH2M HILL engineer and event organizer Brian Michels. “I’m looking forward to next year’s event and hope that we can exceed this years donation.”

Each engineering team constructed sculptures using thousands of cans of donated food. Each of the designs took four to six hours to construct, and the results were impressive. Check out of this time-lapse video of the engineers in action:

The following awards were presented to the engineering teams:

• UDOT – Structural Ingenuity
• HDR – Juror’s Favorite
• CH2M HILL – Best Meal
• Michael Baker/Wadsworth – Best Use of Labels & People’s Choice

The Canstruction event was made possible thanks to company food drives and generous monetary donations from sponsors including WCEC Engineers, Hunt Electric and Perkins Engineering. At the close of the conference 11,250 cans of food were collected and donated to the Utah Food Bank with the help of UDOT’s West Jordan Maintenance Shed, along with over $2,200 in cash donations. Thanks to everyone who made this year’s Canstruction event a huge success.

This guest post was written by Mary Rice with Penna Powers Brian Haynes.