Precasting the Geodesic Dome Sections
Precasting geodesic dome hexagon section
Geodome Home Grand Entry
Special block outs were used to make the "butterfly" ties that were used to "stitch" the pieces together with steel.
Start Tour | Precasting | Forms Details | Site Prep | Assembly | Joining Sections | Assembling Scoop | Waterproofing | Backfilling
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Casting dome section openings
Earth Sheltered Home
At the precasting factory, special forms were built for each type of dome piece. These included: hexagons, pentagons, and two sizes of quarter cylinders. Here we see the form for a hexagon.
Reinforcing bar was placed in the form. Expanded polystyrene block outs were inserted at places where openings were needed in the particular piece being formed.
Casting block outs used to make "butterfly" ties.
Where window or door frames were needed, they were cast into the dome piece.
Window and door frames cast into dome section
Casting with fiber reinforced concrete
The piece was then cast with steel fiber reinforced cement, which makes the toughest concrete in the world.
Screeding the fiber reinforced concrete
Screeding out the seven sack concrete mix, filled with millions of two inch steel fibers was very hard work.