The Dangers of Low-Profile Monolithic Domes

DOME PROFILE 1:8 on Stemwall – At 1:8, construction becomes extremely dangerous. The 1:8 ratio is pure foolishness. It works where non air-forming is done because the application of the concrete is not going to be a big deal in the shape, but with the air-forming it is a big deal and it is extremely important not to play with it.
(Remember, as the side thrust goes up, the pressures go up and the chance of distortion goes way up.)

In David B. South’s latest President’s Sphere, he addresses the risks of constructing low-profile Monolithic Domes. Using his forty years of experience building Monolithic Domes and thin-shell pioneer, Dr. Arnold Wilson’s engineering expertise, he cautions dome-builders that dropping the profiles of Airformed domes can have catastrophic consequences with no appreciable benefits.

The Legend of Domestone

Have we mentioned that Monolithic Domes are super strong? Cuzzins Jeb and Joe found that out the hard way in Barry Byers’ latest Monolithic Dome Comic, The Legend of Domestone.

Monolithic Dome Petroleum Coke Storages

Petroleum Coke Storage — In St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, Hovensa Coker Storage, Bechtel Corp. has two 254′ × 127′ Monolithic Domes. With a capacity of 40,000 metric tons, they’re the world’s largest petroleum coke storages. After this photo was taken, an equipment tower and conveyor system was set on top of the domes. The weight allowance was one million pounds.

Petroleum coke, often called “petcoke,” is a byproduct of oil refineries. Monolithic Dome Petroleum Coke Storages are the best solution to the problem of storing petcoke out in the open in massive dust-pollution generating piles that is swiftly becoming an unacceptable solution to the American public. Read more in David B. South’s latest President’s Sphere.

Aggieland Fitness Dome

The exterior brick facade provides a beautiful finish. The “rust color” trim matches the brick and gives the facility continuity. A conventional entryway greets members.

Aggieland Fitness Dome was complete in January 2004 and was the world’s first Monolithic Dome fitness center. The 124′ × 40′ dome encompasses 12,000 square. feet on ground level and 2400 square feet on the mezzanine level. “The dome has done all the things I was hoping it would do. It differentiates us from other buildings and brings potential customers through the door,” said Steve Lumpee, owner of Aggieland Fitness in College Station, Texas.

I’m Cuckoo For Coconuts

Coconut model of future project of Indonesian dome builder, Antonius “Yoss” Yusanto.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, but when in Indonesia, use coconuts to build scale models of dome projects! Albert Einstein purportedly said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” We agree and think this coconut model of a future project of Indonesian dome builder, Antonius “Yoss” Yusanto, is both creative and smart.

Monolithic Dome Owner Heats Home All Winter Using Light Bulbs

The Ceiling light with five 100 watt lightbulbs Monolithic Dome owner, Jerry Cleveland, has been using to heat his Monolithic Dome through the winter.

Sometimes people find the Monolithic Dome to be so efficient, they can heat them in creative, non-traditional ways. Monolithic Dome owner, Jerry Cleveland, recently sent us an E-mail about the super energy-efficiency of his Monolithic Dome. He had been heating his Monolithic Dome with Christmas lights which had stopped working, so he substituted a ceiling light with five sockets.

Homes Links

Are you interested in learning more about Monolithic Domes, but don’t know where to start? We have simplified the process for you by providing links to Monolithic Dome articles, books, newsletters, house plans and more. Check it out!

Monolithic Dome Airplane Hangars and the Invention of the Hangar Door

Rendering of a small Monolithic Dome hangar with lateral door used for a private jet. Millions of dollars are spent on private jets and corporate air travel yet these planes are often stored in hangars incapable of protecting the planes during violent weather. A Monolithic Dome hangar is a tiny price to pay to protect a multi-million dollar investment.

Read the story of the invention of the revolutionary Monolithic Dome Airplane Hangar Door in David B. South’s latest President’s Sphere. Monolithic Dome Airplane Hangars are super energy efficient, tornado safe, firesafe and earthquake safe. They are also about as bulletproof as you can make a building. Included in his story, is a sketch of a Monolithic Dome Hangar for the F-35 Airplane.

“I Want to Live in a Dome,” a new single by the Rich Lynch Band

Musician, Rich Lynch recently told us, “The only thing I thought I could do to get the dream of living in a dome moving along was to write a song about it.”

Well, he did and we think it’s great! According to his website, “Rockin’ Rich Lynch has been writing and recording music for over 30 years.” This indie rocker out of New Jersey hoping to build his Monolithic Dome Home soon says he’s “ready to build this house – and career – one song at a time.”

Tornado-Proof Monolithic Domes featured in New York Times

The Monolithic Dome was recently featured in The New York Times Dot Earth Blog by Andrew Revkin. After Sunday’s spate of deadly tornadoes, Revkin says it is time to "think outside the box—and inside the dome. Revkin points out that Monolithic Dome Schools meet FEMA standards for community tornado shelters and can provide safe haven for residents as well as students and teachers. “A growing number of school districts in tornado or hurricane hot spots, many with grants from FEMA have chosen this option,” he says. Enlightening, interesting and on the mark. The Monolithic Dome is hard to overlook with all of it’s outstanding benefits, safety being a major one. It’s time to think round.

Upscale Monolithic Dome Home in Montana

The beautiful exterior of the 5,000 sq. ft. Monolithic Dome Home near Flathead Lake  houses stunning interior spaces like this living room.

This gorgeous Monolithic Dome sits next to Flathead Lake and has a spectacular view of the Mission Mountains. The property includes 4.5 acres of prime Montana real estate and a pond with a waterfall in front of the house. The view and the home are truly amazing.

Natural Ovens Bakery— A “Whole” Lot of Firsts

Shell construction was completed in December 2001.

In 1834 a small settlement in northwest Indiana got its first log cabin. That settlement was Valparaiso, whose name was chosen because of its meaning: vale of paradise. One hundred sixty-nine years later, Valparaiso, now with a population of more than 27,000, got its first Monolithic Dome — a manufacturing facility built by Paul and Barbara Stitt, owners of Natural Ovens Bakery, headquartered in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Berming a Monolithic Dome

This bermed Monolithic Dome home belonging to Al Schwartz is covered with a spectacular combination of natural stone from the area and local vegetation.

Have you ever thought about berming your Monolithic Dome? If you have, you’re in luck! It’s very simple to do because of the Monolithic Dome’s inherent strength. Learn how to avoid water problems by addressing the footing. Read about the preferred method for backfilling and more.

The Whiteacre Dome Home Building Experience from Start to Finish

An elevation drawing of the Whiteacre’s home.  This dream home in College Station, Texas is comprised of three domes—two 34-ft and one 44-ft diameter Monolithic Domes. Two more domes are also near, one being the garage and the other a pool house, each 30-ft in diameter.

Have you ever wondered what exactly it takes to build a Monolithic Dome home? Matthew and Jari Whiteacre built a gorgeous three-dome home in College Station, Texas and chronicled their journey with beautiful photographs and careful details on their blog.

Salt Water Concrete—A Reality

Basalt reinforced domes would be an attractive, low-cost solution for coastal communities. Small homes (similar to this steel reinforced EcoShell) could be built by hand.

Can you imagine being able to build a concrete dome on the seashore using only the available sea water and beach sand? David B. South addresses the building of Ecoshells using salt water and salty sand in his latest “President’s Sphere.” The use of basalt rebar makes this not only possible, but completely simple and feasible.

Laying out a Prolate Ellipse

Often we are asked how to lay out the foundation for a prolate ellipse. Some people want to have their Monolithic Dome home shaped as a prolate ellipse. One reason people might want this design is because they have a narrow lot and need to squeeze the dome in the middle to make it fit. Sometimes they want the length of the dome to be longer so they get more of a look of what is on the outside of the building.

Monroe County, Mississippi school district awaits approval for two new domes

The Hatley and Hamilton Schools in the Monroe County School District, in Hatley, Mississippi are awaiting FEMA funding approval to build two new domes on their campuses. The new domes will feature a basketball gym, restrooms, a coach’s office, an electrical room and storage closets, and will also serve as a shelter for students, faculty as well as the community in the event of severe weather.

Tips for building in remote locations

Dome home built in a remote location near Alpine, Texas

When building in remote locations, there can be some extra requirements that need to be considered. In this article, David B. South, gives some of his top tips for building in these out-of-the-way places. Fire safety, planning, construction, generators and contract workers are some of the topics he addresses in this helpful article.

Would igloos (Monolithic Domes) lower risk of fertilizer explosions?

In response to the deadly explosion six months ago in West, Texas, Federal agencies will soon be making recommendations to Congress on how to reduce the risk at fertilizer storage facilities. Should igloos (Monolithic Domes) be among the ideas? During a recent interview with Dave Fehling that appears on the website StateImpact.NPR.org, David South answers that question.

Monolithic Domes: Surviving Bullets, Projectiles, Tornadoes

The rifle used in this test was a Ruger 10/22, using a very standard 40 grain projectile. Damage from this rifle was minimal.

As they say on TV, “Don’t try this at home.” Don’t shoot holes in your home with a 30-06 caliber rifle. To test the bullet-resisting strength of a Monolithic Dome, Gary Clark, our VP of Sales, fired at our Monolithic Dome storage buildings.

A Monolithic Theater: Practical, Affordable and Beautiful

Fancy Theater with rotating stage. But still half price of competitor.

Multifunctional! That’s not a term often used to describe a theater, but it fits well for a Monolithic theater. We can design and construct an elegant theater, of virtually any size, for plays, concerts, operas, graduations, special school or community events and even large funerals.

Lumberton ISD FEMA funded dome in the news

Channel 12 News Now of Beaumont, Texas featured the new FEMA funded monolithic dome being built for the Lumberton ISD by Dome Technology in a recent news report. The news article describes the monolithic dome as a disaster dome that will allow first responders and people who are unable to evacuate during emergencies to safely ride out storms like hurricanes.

What the customer REALLY wants

This cartoon depicts in a funny way what often happens to building projects. A school or prospective home owner will describe their needs to a contractor and will very often end up with an end result far different than what was needed.

Letter to all School Superintendents and Legislators

Monolithic Dome Schools – THE answer for schools in “tornado alley.”
See: http://www.monolithic.com/topics/schools

School children were killed in the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma in the spring of 2013. That need not happen at your school – or any school. It is possible to have A TORNADO-SAFE and AFFORDABLE SCHOOL.

Building in Haiti: One man’s solution

Dan Hildebrand is a man trained in building Monolithic Domes, who has helped on several projects in places like Haiti. He has a real passion for that type of work and for helping people. What he describes in the article that follows is help for a small number of Haitians. But before you read Dan’s article, let me tell you about two magnanimous plans that never saw reality.

Monolithic Fertilizer Storage for Farmland Industries, Inc.

The modern, two Monolithic Dome, dry fertilizer storage facility of Farmland Industries, Inc. An advanced computerized system allows a small crew run the facility. The Monolithic Dome is very good at keeping the stored material dry and the concrete walls of the dome also resist the corrosive effects of the fertilizer.

Farmland Industries, the largest cooperative of farmers and ranchers in North America, completed a two-dome facility for storage of dry fertilizer in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. The larger dome is 120’ in diameter and 60’ high, while the smaller is 115’ in diameter and 58’ high.

Dometown, USA

Insurance and energy will cost far less. And they will last for centuries.

MDI president David B. South and retired architect Rick Crandall gazed into their crystal ball and did some informed speculating on life in a future community called Dometown, USA. Their shared thoughts are thought provoking!

Sample Monolithic Dome School Pricing

Crockett, Texas: This Monolithic gymnasium and tornado shelter with 24,500 SF was partially funded by FEMA and will be completed in late 2013.

Today’s schools have two relatively new, major problems: 1) How to keep students safe; 2) How to design and maintain a campus that provides what the community needs and does it affordably.

Financing Monolithic Dome Homes

Monolithic Dome homes cut energy costs by a minimum of 50%. The government wants us to save energy, but will not allow loans for Monolithic Dome homes.
Home of Monolithic President, David B. South.

Since the fall of 2007, financing homes, especially Monolithic Dome homes, has become a big problem. The federal government, determined to keep the banks from failing, established new rules for home financing. Those rules helped the banks and some home owners, but they destroyed the progress being made by builders of energy-efficient, greener, better homes. How do we get those rules reversed?

Monolithic Domes Have Blast-Resistant Strength

Strength testing the Monolithic Dome at BYU Laboratories. The sand bags represent the amount of weight previously thought to be the maximum load this dome could take. The addition of the forklift did nothing. They were ultimately unable to break the shell by overloading it and had to take it apart with jackhammers.

In 1976 I hired a German engineer for a dome project in Germany. Although I never asked for it, he sent me a report stating that, during World War II, thin shell concrete buildings in Germany faired far better than other structures.

Dome Schools Make Disaster-Proof Promise

The Oklahoma City FOX affiliate KOKH TV online investigative report features part two of a special report about how Monolithic domes at one school could become the model for schools everywhere.

KMOV of St. Louis news article features Valley R-6 School District’s domes

A recent news article at KMOV-St. Louis features a video interview with Valley R-6 officials in Caledonia, Missouri. Quoting, ‘At first glance the five domes that make up Valley R-6 Elementary School in Caledonia, Missouri look odd, but school officials say they are the safest buildings in the face of a tornado. “They are tornado proof – hurricane proof – fire proof and so our kids are very safe,“ says Valley superintendent Brad Crocker.’