The newly revised mixer really sped things up.
We made a framework to attach a 2,000 pound winch to the top of a fiberglass extension ladder, and a welded pipe cradle that holds a plastic drum with a side cutout. This lets us winch up 35-40 gallons at a time. The big Milwaukee hammer drill that I bought to anchor the dome has come in handy as a motor for the winch.
This is a view of the progress on the west side of the dome.
One day in a burst of creativity we decided to do a couple of reliefs on the dome.
Later this face will have sun rays radiating out from it. Here's the northwest window with a temporarily supported eyebrow.
The western wall.
A view of the kitchen's vaulted ceiling.
The pent clerestory with temporary stud supports in the openings for the 14"x48" windows.
Then one morning after a night of high winds and blowing sand, I found the top pent 120' from the dome, in the driveway. It actually flew 100' before touching down.
It had only been sprayed with a thin layer of papercrete and only weighed a few hundred pounds, making a good airfoil, obviously. Here's a view of where it used to be, along with the sand dropped by the wind as it came over the dome.
An aerial view of the rear roof, with the top pent still missing.
That big blue water tank will be gone as soon as it is empty, probably this week. The back still needs a lot of work, as does the east side.
A week or so after the top pent flew off, we reattached it. It took a couple of days of preparation and two failed attempts to finally get it raised without disassembly and reattached to the clerestory. Spider Man was very helpful at a critical point. (inside joke)
View toward the top pent from inside the entry. The pipe is being used to push up a sagging piece of lathe that needed another screw or two.
Here's the west side again, with the top pent back in place.
It's April 2002. We've done 65 mixer loads of papercrete which we figure weighed in the range of 80,000 pounds wet, and we figure we are just over halfway done. The windy season should be over, it is in the high 80's most days. The rainy season lurks around the corner. Stay tuned...