Notable graduates: David Blodgett — Concrete accomplishments on the water

When competitors from other schools hear about David Blodgett of
UW-Madison’s Concrete Canoe team, they generally have the response:
"That’s not fair."

Blodgett, a UW–Madison senior graduating in civil engineering, has
been building functional boats since he was 14, and worked for Carl’s
Paddlin’ in Madison (now the Paddlin’ Shop) for several years. He’s
also an accomplished whitewater kayaker, an extreme water sport that
requires more agility and precise steering than whitewater rafting.

Kayaking has not only driven his interest in the Concrete Canoe
competition, but also his major, Blodgett says. Traveling across the
U.S. for whitewater kayaking has allowed him to see river basins
submerged under lakes from damming.

"What I want to do is figure out how to do what dams do without the
dam. Treat the watershed instead of treat the river," he says. "That’s
kind of my passion — it comes from the whitewater kayaking because I
know there are so many beautiful, wonderful, amazing rivers beds and
canyons that have been buried by a dam."

Calling himself "kind of an unconventional" civil engineering
student, Blodgett says he has already taken 15 to 20 graduate credits
for water resource classes to learn more about replacing dams with more
natural systems. He will continue on in graduate school in the fall and
incorporate geology and geographic information science into his
studies.