In March of 1993 I hired a couple of guys to pour a 35' diameter round slab, with the five 3" steel pipes embedded 3' into 24" diameter x 4' deep concrete pier footings. Then I cut 4" steel pipe into 3 1/2" long pieces, and cut 1" x 3/16" steel bar into 8" long pieces, then bent 1" of the end at an angle. These were bolted onto the ends of the 2x4's so that they clamped the pipe and formed the hubs for the dome. I got the dome to the stage shown in this picture, but had not yet put in the cross bracing and studs internal to the triangles. By then it was midsummer and around here that means afternoon thunderstorms. A freak microburst from a storm that was overhead twisted the framework, cracked a couple of studs, and caused it to collapse. No amount of pulling with come-alongs would get it back up, so I disassembled it.

By this time I was having better ideas - The Metal Dome Frame