“This is first time we have ever done something like this,” Shawl said, while standing next to a mountain of canned carrots. “I think it will work out. It’s just a thing you can’t foresee with an AutoCAD [a computer-based design program] drawing.”

Terradon, along with six other engineering, architecture and student groups, participated in the inaugural Canstruction Project on Tuesday. The competition requires teams to build colossal structures out of canned goods, which will later be disassembled and donated to the food pantry at Charleston's Covenant House.

Jody Driggs of Silling Associates places cans of pineapple to complete the West Virginia Capitol dome during the “canstruction” competition at the Charleston Civic Center on Tuesday. Silling Associates was one of seven teams in the event, which benefits Charleston’s Covenant House food pantry.

The construction began Tuesday morning, to be followed by judging today and the awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Friday. Teams are judged in several categories including structural integrity, the best use of labels, the juror's favorite, the people's choice and the best meal, which is judged on whether the canned goods used in the structure make a nutritious meal.

The public is invited to view and vote through Friday during the Civic Center's hours, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The 700 cases of food used during the competition will cover Covenant House's pantry needs for six months and help feed about 1,200 families, said Director Amy Weintraub. "Hunger is a problem in West Virginia," she said. "And this is fun way to draw attention to a severe social and economic problem." After stocking the food pantry, the reserves will be housed in a donated storage facility in Charleston's East End, she said.

Isaac Liu, 9, places a can of white beans into position for Dow Chemical Co.'s "canstruction" entry. The team, which is headed by Isaac's mother, Julie Serafin, was making a soup can and can opener during the competition on Tuesday.

The teams purchased their own food for the project, paying special attention to the pantry’s needs, especially high-protein foods like fish, meat and beans, she said.

Employees of Silling Associates, a Charleston’s based architecture firm, were working on a scale replica of the state Capitol.

Team leader Jody Driggs said he went to the grocery store and measured different canned goods to find cans that fit each layer’s height and color requirements. The base was made of Bush’s Baked Beans and the golden dome was canned mandarin oranges.

Silling’s team also paid close attention to the health benefits of the canned goods it used. For example, the structure featured organic tomato sauce and fat-free beans, Driggs said. In total, the team used 2,300 cans of food.

Dow Chemical’s Women’s Innovation Network team was creating a giant soup can, with an open lid and can opener. The base of can was made of sardines to replicate the lip of an actual can. Julie Serafin, who helped spearhead the team, found out about the competition through the Covenant House’s newsletter and couldn’t resist giving back.

“Covenant House does such wonderful things for the community,” she said. “And this is a fun way to use our engineering know-how. It’s such a challenge.” Doug Richardson, team captain of the Moment Engineers Inc. team, agreed.

“It’s a fun thing to do and worthwhile for who it benefits,” he said, as the team created Easter Island faces entirely out of canned peas, appropriately titled “PEAster Island”. “And, it’s bit more playful than what I do every day.”