17.03.2021 Yo heave ho!

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Wednesday 17th 32F and thick mist again.

I want to re-arrange the segments correctly but need a much better cleverer method than brute force. Somehow I need to reduce/remove the friction with the ground. I don't have a smooth concrete surface to allow the use of silly little wheels. The weight and close fit with the undulating, gravel surface makes it difficult to put anything useful under the lower edge. 

I tried a sack truck and it won't work. Neither inside nor out. The curvature of the segments makes them odd loads to support. All the weight lies inside the curve. The C of G must lie in some mysterious position in mid air. Probably midway within the curve in both the horizontal and vertical plane. Not sure how this helps if I can't get a useful grip on anything. The ratchet strap hooks fit easily into the bolt holes along the edges but then what? The segments might be sturdy but local loading might rip out a chunk of precious GRP! 

Lifting rings are provided but are intended for the completed dome and securely bolted, double thickness joints. Heavy steel inner plates are obviously meant to spread the loads into the completed shell via all the reinforcements. The full hemisphere has inherent strength and a central balance. 

Lifting a segment by the top edge would cause it to rotate towards the open side. Which would mean it had to be lifted very high to clear the ground. A complete non-starter for amateurs. For reasons too numerous to mention. 

Moving the segments is not simply a linear journey. Rotation is also vital. So it's not simply a matter of putting down some boards and pushing [very] hard. Did I mention my back is already complaining? 🙄

Enough chat. I'm going to try laying short lengths of steel pipe on the ground under the segments. They probably wont act as true rollers but they may reduce the friction enough to make quite a useful difference. 

I have the L&R base segments back to back instead of the open sides facing each other. I need to swap their positions around somehow in quite a confined space. I might be able to use the boat winch to rotate them with a circumferential draw if I protect the leading corners from digging in. That would make it easier for them to pass each other. With the open doorways ending up facing the shed. To minimize the the countless journeys for tools and materials. 

The segments didn't get any lighter but they responded to thin boards laid on the ground. Pipes didn't help.  It took me only half an hour to have the two base segments properly arranged and correctly spaced. But in completely the wrong place? I usually park the car just there. The arched doorway is roughly facing the shed and out of the prevailing SW wind. Theoretically [?] I could slip a roof section into place. Then have an assembled dome by the end of the day. First I need a rest! 

My bridged stepladders idea fizzled and went out. They aren't able to reach over the considerable curvature of the dome. Not without adding a third ladder to spread them much further apart at the top. Which I do have but need room to put it together. I have some doubts about the load capacity in such a configuration. Though they would only be lifting a single segment.

I was now aching all over again from my earlier efforts. So I postponed the ladder work. I did some more measuring and then gave the segments a wash inside and out. There was a lot of chalky dust involved. Possibly from GRP sanding of the edges? 

The large, water stained "targets" on the insides gradually disappeared with washing. The outsides too responded to a dustpan brush and plain water. Not the deeper scratches but a lot of chalky marks proved to be non-permanent. 

The joints are 40mm wide on the base segments and 50mm wide on the "roof." I measured 4.3m on the diagonal but only 4.1m across the base in the middle. This may increase with the addition of the roof segment. My 2m radius, template arcs were clearly of much smaller radius than the dome skirt. The base segments were probably sprung slightly where they rested on the boards.

With the arrival of warm sunshine I checked the solar reflectivity of the slightly translucent GRP. The manufacturers claim thermal rejection for the comfort of the animals. I measured 105F on the outside and 100F inside perpendicular to the sun. Not very convincing for a miserable 46F in the shade! I knew I should have gone with white! 😎 It's much too late now!

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