58th Annual Ice Arch

By Rachel Heimke

Ten days before the 58th annual Ice Arch was set to be done, UAF engineering students still had no ice to build it with. They pulled together and made it happen just in time for the Engineering Open House.

Ice Arch has been a longstanding tradition of the Engineering Department at UAF. It’s changed hands over the years, and this year, it was the responsibility of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Chloe Maynard, the vice president of the student club, was the project manager.

All photos by Rachel Heimke

The students began planning last fall. They connected with faculty mentors, brainstormed ideas, and voted on their designs. John Francisco became the student designer. Il-Sang Ahn was the faculty mentor helping with planning and safety, and Wilhelm Muench advised on design and construction.

As the spring semester rolled around, the students had everything figured out. Maynard facilitated all the safety paperwork and contacted companies to secure scaffolding, ice, and any other materials they might need.

Ten days before the Engineering Open House, an event bringing visitors from around the state to a department showcase, the team had no ice. The company in charge of providing it hadn’t responded, and it became apparent that they wouldn’t get the materials they needed in time.

So, the team started over. Francisco and Muench redid their design to work with a slush pack, not hard ice. The construction team changed the false-works, the wooden structure that would hold the slush as it froze into the correct shape. They had a week to build, and they did.

“It was all hands on deck,” said Maynard. 

When asked how they managed, Francisco responded, “Just teamwork. That’s how we did it.”

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Ahn described the difference between construction and engineering. “You can build your cabin in your backyard. You don't need any engineering because that’s for you,” he said. “Engineering is a little bit different. Engineering is teamwork.”

“We worked many hours to get it done,” said Maynard.

The team had to finish construction of their wooden false-works outside. Then, they created slush by mixing water and snow in buckets. Over the week they had left, groups of students packed the slush around the false-works, letting it freeze into shape.

The Ice Arch was completed in time for the Engineering Open House when groups of visitors toured it every hour. It was even outfitted with LEDs to light it up at night, making it a focal point of the campus.

It was Maynard’s first year working on the Ice Arch. “I definitely learned a lot,” she said. Her role gave her experience in recognizing people’s strengths, creating groups that would work well together, and not putting too many tasks on one person.

She said working with peers and faculty mentors mimicked a professional workplace structure. “We’re learning a bit about how engineering is going to work.”

“I learned that it’s not going to go the way you plan it, so have a backup plan!” said Francisco. 

“The lack of material is such a real issue that people run into, especially in Alaska,” said Maynard. “It was a good experience to have a barrier like that and then coming together as a team to overcome it.”

In the future, the engineering faculty wants to encourage students from other departments to join the tradition. 

This year’s Ice Arch was made possible thanks to a generous donation from Alan Straub, a UAF Engineering alumnus.