Editing Concrete Toboggan

TBog is short for the University of Toronto Concrete Toboggan Team. We are a team of engineering students who compete in the annual Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR). GNCTR is one of the oldest and largest engineering design competitions in Canada, and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Each year, over 400 Canadian engineering students come together and do what engineers do best: race concrete toboggans down ski hills at 80 km/h. To compete, each team must construct a toboggan that has concrete running surfaces, weighs less than 300 lbs, has functioning steering and braking systems, and can safely carry 5 riders down the hill.

TBog is the definition of a multidisciplinary team. We have students from every engineering discipline actively working on this year’s team. There is much more to our team than just designing the toboggan: we need people to do everything from acquiring sponsorship, to improving and maintaining our website, to designing and creating our costumes.

The toboggan itself is a carefully designed machine. Our design process begins with generating a solid model of the proposed superstructure design, including the steering and braking systems. This model is analyzed and revised to optimize performance, weight, and stress concentrations. Meanwhile, the concrete mix is formulated and goes through a series of iterations to produce the highest strength-to-weight ratio (among other factors). Finally, after the designs have been finalized, construction of the toboggan begins—this stage requires students with machine shop and concrete pouring experience.