VoL 8, No. Newsletter of the China Lake Spring 2002 Monolithic Dome Did the Romans Influence Museum Design? By Steve Benson, Facilities Committee You may or may not familiar with this type of building. Although not yet par- ticularly common in California, monolithic domes are becoming increasingly more common elsewhere in the country and the world, particularly for use as churches, schools, and residential applications. The monolithic dome has been likened to "upside down” swimming pools, and indeed its basic construction is very similar to built-in place pools. The dome’s great strength comes from a skeleton of steel reinforcing rods, and its basic structural material is sprayed-in- place concrete (shotcrete). Large hemispheri- cal monolithic domes were originally devel- oped for use as large industrial bulk-material storage facilities, but over the past couple of decades, dome structures have expanded in— creasingly into homes and other large building applications, including possibly our new Naval Museum of Armament and Technology. The monolithic dome is, in fact, one of the leading two contenders for the future museum building. The construction process for a mono- 1i thic dome is relatively simple and straight- forward. First a circular reinforced footing, the size of the finished dome, is prepared. Monolithic domes as large as 250 feet in di- ameter have been built but the most com- mon size for schools and churches appears to be in the 120 ft to ZOO-foot-diameter range. An elastomeric preform is then attached and sealed to the footing and inflated using large fans. The preform inflates and assumes the size and shape of the completed dome. Es- sentially it’s a big balloon. Once the balloon is inflated inflated, the entire inside surface of the preform is coated with several inches of sprayed-on urethane foam. A skeleton of steel reinforcing rods is next attached to the preform’s interior against the foam, and shotcrete is applied to a thickness of several inches over the urethane foam thus embed- ding the reinforcing rod skeleton. Doors, windows, and skylights can be located wher- ever desired. Once the shotcrete cures, the fan is turned off and the basic dome struc- ture is complete. The elastomeric preform is left in place as the external weather barrier for the dome and can be painted any color desired. Conventional construction methods H U.S. NAVAL MUSEUM OF ARMAMENT AND TECHNOLOGY CHINA LAKE (:50 FOOT DIAMETER MONOLITHIC DOME concspn are then used to complete the interior rooms and portions of the dome. Monolithic domes possess several in- herent characteristics that make them highly desirable for church, school, residential, and in our case, museum applications. The dome’s construction cost is comparable to other building methods for the same size, but once the dome is in use, there are large savings in future heating, cooling, and main- tenance costs. The dome itself is extremely strong (withstands high winds, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc), (continued on page 5) V r Annan Membership, Meeting May 3, — 1:00 PM Immanuel Ministry Centgr,;1201 N...China Lake Blvd., Ridgecrest, CA , OCR Text: VoL 8, No. Newsletter of the China Lake Spring 2002 Monolithic Dome Did the Romans Influence Museum Design? By Steve Benson, Facilities Committee You may or may not familiar with this type of building. Although not yet par- ticularly common in California, monolithic domes are becoming increasingly more common elsewhere in the country and the world, particularly for use as churches, schools, and residential applications. The monolithic dome has been likened to "upside down” swimming pools, and indeed its basic construction is very similar to built-in place pools. The dome’s great strength comes from a skeleton of steel reinforcing rods, and its basic structural material is sprayed-in- place concrete (shotcrete). Large hemispheri- cal monolithic domes were originally devel- oped for use as large industrial bulk-material storage facilities, but over the past couple of decades, dome structures have expanded in— creasingly into homes and other large building applications, including possibly our new Naval Museum of Armament and Technology. The monolithic dome is, in fact, one of the leading two contenders for the future museum building. The construction process for a mono- 1i thic dome is relatively simple and straight- forward. First a circular reinforced footing, the size of the finished dome, is prepared. Monolithic domes as large as 250 feet in di- ameter have been built but the most com- mon size for schools and churches appears to be in the 120 ft to ZOO-foot-diameter range. An elastomeric preform is then attached and sealed to the footing and inflated using large fans. The preform inflates and assumes the size and shape of the completed dome. Es- sentially it’s a big balloon. Once the balloon is inflated inflated, the entire inside surface of the preform is coated with several inches of sprayed-on urethane foam. A skeleton of steel reinforcing rods is next attached to the preform’s interior against the foam, and shotcrete is applied to a thickness of several inches over the urethane foam thus embed- ding the reinforcing rod skeleton. Doors, windows, and skylights can be located wher- ever desired. Once the shotcrete cures, the fan is turned off and the basic dome struc- ture is complete. The elastomeric preform is left in place as the external weather barrier for the dome and can be painted any color desired. Conventional construction methods H U.S. NAVAL MUSEUM OF ARMAMENT AND TECHNOLOGY CHINA LAKE (:50 FOOT DIAMETER MONOLITHIC DOME concspn are then used to complete the interior rooms and portions of the dome. Monolithic domes possess several in- herent characteristics that make them highly desirable for church, school, residential, and in our case, museum applications. The dome’s construction cost is comparable to other building methods for the same size, but once the dome is in use, there are large savings in future heating, cooling, and main- tenance costs. The dome itself is extremely strong (withstands high winds, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc), (continued on page 5) V r Annan Membership, Meeting May 3, — 1:00 PM Immanuel Ministry Centgr,;1201 N...China Lake Blvd., Ridgecrest, CA , China Lake Museum,China Laker - Newsletter,China Laker 2000s,China Laker 2002,Vol+8+No+2+Spring+2002.pdf,Vol+8+No+2+Spring+2002.pdf Page 1, Vol+8+No+2+Spring+2002.pdf Page 1