Where We Stand

At 5:20 p.m., the six main members of the Heavy Civil Team stood and introduced themselves. Despite running out of time just shy of showing their final slide, their presentation was rock solid, with everyone shouldering some of the tonnage (after this many long days, bad construction puns are excusable).

Then Kiewit, the problem sponsor, laid out how they had completed the project in the real world. While they initially used a barge to float rocks from a quarry to the jetty job site, it turned out that was not the best way, something the Boise State team picked up on early in reviewing the plans.

As a spectator, several things will stick in my mind from the presentation:

• Laser pointers are not your friend.
• Sometimes the word "clamshell" just doesn't come to you.
• The immortal words of Jared Staub: "Wetlands? No touchy."

After all of the teams got their bid book and presentation scores back, Captain Steve totaled the points. The total this year is the highest total of any Boise State team ever to compete in the Heavy Civil category, and it's higher than the winning score at Reno last year.

Without putting a jinx on the situation, I'm happy to say that whatever the outcome, this team deserves credit. They took the challenge seriously, and I hope they will be seriously rewarded. The free hot wings are nice, but trophies are nicer.