Well, as most know... last week I was in Italy... Texas (I just LOVE the effect that has on some... *grin*).
I got there on Monday around 6pm - past their office closing time, but decided to swing by the main office anyway to check out the domes there. When I drove up, there was already a new dome on-site, and the work crew were rolling up hoses, and pretty much shutting down for the evening. My heart sunk! I was beginning to mentally panic... figuring that I had missed out on the actual build. I drove on down the drive to the visitors' center... which had been moved into the newest dome on the property (It's a 20-foot diameter dome) - I had seen it last fall - when they had first put it up - and started the framing inside. Now it was finished, and they had moved the visitor's center from next door - where it used to be. The dome next door was being rented out to someone (It's a 24-foot diameter dome).
Anyway, I was still mentally trying to figure out what I would do... as I was still thinking that I 'missed class' somehow. I drove on back to the first dome I passed on the way in, and sat in the car. A man who was the 'supervisor' of the crew waved at me... to come on over. So, I got out of my car and walked up the concrete drive. His name was Javier, and we talked briefly. He asked me if I was there for the class - I replied 'Yes'. He said that this was the dome that we would be completing. It turns out that all he had done was to pour the foundation and inflate the dome in preparation for the week-long class. *Instant relief!*
I nervously laughed and told him that I was thinking I had missed the week of class somehow. He nodded, 'No', and said that we would be working on it in the next few days.
Well... from Tuesday through Saturday, class started 8am - sharp! - and lasted through to about 5pm. After that, they fed us a light supper, and we had films, or slides or talks to about 7pm.
Tuesday... the very first day - we sprayed the polyurethane foam on the inside of the dome. That was cool! It set up pretty fast... almost instantly - and we got about 2 to 3 inches of foam up.
Rebar hangars were stabbed into the polyurethane foam after about 1-1/2-inches, and after the last coating of foam, we hung the rebar inside the dome. I pretty much helped cut the rebar, while the others placed it and tied it.
The last couple of days (I lost track of which days we did what), were spend spraying the shotcrete... hmmm... let's see... Thursday... Friday... and yes, Saturday.
We also had a 'graduation' ceremony where they handed us our certificates of completion.
All in all... I had a blast... learned a lot... mostly observed... but did get to spray the foam and shotcrete...
Oh... and yes... I am still planning to build a dome. All of the work involved - it's STILL worth it.
I now have documents and booklets to read and study. Lots more information to digest.
Regards,
Jim TX