The 2025 FRC Bowling Ball Competition once again proved that engineering excellence can be educational and strikingly creative. The event, held on March 30 during the ACI Concrete Convention in Toronto, Ontario, drew 50 teams of students from around the world to test the limits of engineering innovation in fiber-reinforced concrete.
The FRC Bowling Ball Competition continues to be a highly anticipated event in the concrete industry, offering a dynamic platform for engineering students to learn and demonstrate their skills in fiber reinforcement. The competition challenges teams to design and build bowling balls using fiber-reinforced concrete. Teams from across the globe, including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Poland, showcased their designs, vying for top honors in various categories.
The FRC Bowling Ball Competition is held every two years during the American Concrete Institute’s Spring Convention and is an effective educational tool for students to explore the practical applications of fiber reinforcement in concrete and have fun at the same time. The bowling balls that the teams design and produce must meet mass, diameter, and toughness specifications, as well as be spherical enough to roll the length of the bowling lane and knock down pins at the end of the lane. In addition, each team must predict how their bowling balls will perform in each of those areas before attending the competition. Each team then brings two bowling balls to the competition, and they are tested in each of those areas.
The competition highlighted how fiber-reinforced concrete enhances crack control, durability, and post-crack performance. Students experimented with fiber type, length, distribution, and dosage — all critical factors that mirror real-world structural design.
This year’s event awarded certificates of recognition and cash prizes for first, second, and third place in the Design Prediction and Analysis Testing. In addition, this year’s competition included a first-ever category for Aesthetics. While no cash prizes were awarded for this category, the bragging rights attained by the winners was award enough – a public vote determined the winners for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, while the highest-ranking award for “Judge’s Choice” was determined by a panel of ACI members from the Aesthetics Committee and the Decorative Concrete committee.
Fiber reinforcement is a critical innovation in the construction industry, offering durability and strength while reducing costs and labor for various applications. The FRC Bowling Competition highlights the potential of these materials. By using fiber-reinforced concrete to solve a fun problem, students gain invaluable hands-on experience in this construction field.
Every year, FORTA proudly contributes high-performance concrete fibers to be used in the FRC Bowling Competition, exemplifying our capabilities in reinforcing both concrete and the educational foundations of the next generation of engineers, architects, and construction managers.
Sunday, March 21, 2027
Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Since 1978, FORTA has led the concrete industry with innovative synthetic fiber reinforcement solutions engineered to improve performance, extend service life, and reduce costs. From infrastructure to innovation challenges, FORTA is proud to support engineering education and promote “Reinforcement That Lasts.”
Contact us today to learn more about fiber-reinforced concrete or to request fiber donations for upcoming competitions. Visit the American Concrete Institute online to learn more about upcoming competitions.
