Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day...
by
Gary L. Clark
Reprint from the 2000 Spring Roundup
Water seeks the lowest level. Unfortunately, when preparing the footing for a dome that means the trench surrounding the footing will fill first.
Even though the dome construction process can be done in any type of weather- hot or cold, dry or wet - a dome construction crew hopes for good weather initially so the footing can be placed with no problems.
Our construction crew drove from Idaho to Southgate, Michigan anticipating the building of a dome church. But foul weather was predicted. So, we worked feverishly preparing the land and digging the footing trenches. Just as we had the trench opening lined up, ready to start placing rebar and preparing the forms, Mother Nature stepped in to destroy our best laid plans.
Rain-rain-rain! Not only did the trench around the footing fill, it filled to capacity, flooding the entire area. What a dreary occasion! The crew retreated to the motel, dismally envisioning long days of card playing, movie going, and other time-consuming activities.
After several days of waiting and passing time, Mother Nature granted a reprieve. We decided to face the challenge before the sky opened again. We hopped in one of the two vehicles and drove to the job site, planning to pump out the footing and start the drying out process.
Suddenly, Mike Gardner, one of our crew, reached the job site in his own vehicle. He got out of it, wearing a wet suit equipped with fins, snorkel and mask. The crew burst out laughing, but that didn't bother Mike. He was determined to replace misfortune with opportunity. He turned a dismal day into a fun time, as he went snorkeling around the footing at Southgate.
So much rain had fallen, Mike was practically able to swim across the diameter of the dome. He wasn't alone though. The entire area was infested with crawfish, so it proved to be an interesting swim on the lighter side...
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