15.03.2021 Big dome day! What a disaster!

 *

Monday 15th 39F, heavy overcast. The dome delivery is due this morning. Having been put off from Friday due to bad weather with gales. 

Will the huge trolley live up to expectations? Can it cope with a 300kg load spread across its back? I really have no idea. The weekend was spent making it stronger and safer. It hardly flinches to my modest weight now. 

What if the delivery driver decides he doesn't like the risk? The dome "kit" will have to go on the grass 120m from its intended target in my garden. 

I plan to screw plywood offcuts and boards to the top surface to spread the load [even] more evenly. I'll get on with that immediately after breakfast. 

I laid the plywood template arcs on the trolley to get a true idea of the support required. Whether the segments will fit inside the wheel jacks on the right remains to be seen. See image. I have lowered the jacks so that the wheels just clear the rails. This might help to improve stability and reduce the "leverage" on the jacks. The rear wheels will be locked straight ahead for more sensible steering. I had a test run towing the trolley with a lifting strop and it went well. Though it is far heavier than when I started.

The van and trailer turned up just after 2pm. The segments were lying on their backs like nested, rather elegant boats. Except that most of the water was inside the boats! As the load was lifted by the crane it tipped lengthways and water gushed out! Many cubic feet of it!

My trolley didn't like the heavy load! Such that one long, side rail rolled inwards. Bending five 12mm coach bolts holding it to the cross bars. The same rail which was holding two sets of wheels.

It took over an hour just to move the trolley off the main drive. I was using the car to tow it along at a snail's pace. Then another hour to get it to the gate. Then more time to reach the parking area. The wheels kept flopping over sideways on the jacks. So I reversed the clamps to make the twisted timber work for me. It didn't help very much and had to be corrected each time. Using wooden blocks and a length of 2x4 as a lever. Just to stop the wheels dragging sideways through the gravel. Of course it rained almost non-stop from beginning to end of the whole, sorry farce. 

The segments look rather scuffed up but will no doubt respond to a specialist GRP polish. Tomorrow promises wall to wall sunshine! I already know how I intend to roll the segments upright. Using an anchor post and my secondhand boat winch. Did I mention how pleased I am with the dome parts and the sheer scale is absolutely mind blowing? The BBC calls my lifelong affliction "toxic positivity." 😋

*