LARGEST Half-Sphere Dome in the World.
N 41° 49.520 W 090° 11.738
15T E 732895 N 4634185
You can't miss this 150 foot high Gold Dome when you drive through Clinton, Iowa.
Waymark Code: WM1C1N
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 03/30/2007
Views: 124
The worlds LARGEST half-sphere dome is 300 feet across and 150 feet high. It holds 60,000 tons of coal. That's six 100-car unit trains.
Originally this dome was going to be gray. When it was inflated to stretch to it's final shape, a large rip occured in the material. Patches didn't hold. The material was produced over seas and there wasn't enough of the same color material in the USA to produce another dome. Because the dome was holding up construction, it was decided to make the second dome from gold colored material that was available at the time. The Gold Dome was inflated with air. A plastic based insulation was sprayed on the inside of the dome. Then reinforcement bars were tied to the insulation and cement was sprayed over the bars tied onto the walls of the dome. More "rebar" was tied on and covered with cement. This continued until 4000 cubic yards of cement, and several semi-trailer loads of rebar were on all surfaces of the dome. Doors were cut in the walls of the dome and special conveyers installed. The inflatable fabric is now the weather-proof cover. Because the Gold Dome sits well inside of private property, the photo was taken from a river dike located on public property
You can learn more about these domes by going to the manufacturers web site at http://www.dometech.com/