Here is a drawing that illustrates what was engineered for our dome house.
Using a standard back hoe we can excavate a 24" trench the shape of
the dome and it will allow room for the footing as well as the required
perimeter drain around the footing. Digging in this expansive clay is tough
so doing everything at once is a real help. We would hate to have to come
back and dig right up against the dome to install the drain later.
The Power line and the water line needs to be placed under the foundation
so that is dug first and the wire and pipe is placed in this trench and
then backfilled before the footing trench can be dug.
Garage footing taking shape.
Long distance shot from the hill east of the house site.
Snow and very cold weather has slowed things down a bit but the entire outside footings are dug and preliminary placement of the steel footing steaks are done. Once it warms up the pads will be formed and Reba placed and filled with concrete. Once they set up the forms will be removed from each pad and the curved forms will be set in place (more pictures to follow).
Big picture - footing goes all the way around!
House side of dome. Kitchen (closest) then the great room and at the far
end is the private (bedroom) dome.
Patio dome in the center. Part of the garage domes are on the left.
Three detail shots of the ditch and steel steaks outlining the perimeter
of the triple dome garage.
Final footing drawing.
The pads are ready to pour! (3/14/03)
Bring on the concrete!
Smooth it off.
A fine days job! Too bad we didn't have enough for the last pad!
3/26/03 Footings are taking shape! The close to three feet of snow has
melted but its still very sloppy.
April 1,2003 And this is no joke!
Forms are ready for cement (note the foundation drains are in place - under
the gravel).
The entire footing is ready for cement!
Lets pour! Wow the excitement of seeing our home taking shape!
What a day! Three concrete trucks and we are finished!
Extra concrete - what to do with it? We will always have a place to dump
extra concrete. Lets start with the culverts! Hopefully this will help
them from washing out (when it does rain).
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Final preparation for the dome is to fill the inside of the structure with
about one foot of fill and tamp it down solid. Then we will have less filling
on the inside once the dome is up. It's much easier to fill before there
is a structure. (I think my insides are still bouncing up and down!) |
