5th day

This is the big day - we start building the straw bale dome!

Minke is inspecting the work done so far:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

The reed mats had to be finished - clay plaster starts on monday:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Luckily we have an electrician in the team - all cabling done in half a day:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Fish eye view after the first row of bales for the dome:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Main tools for building a dome - a rotational guide and a hammer:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

The straw bales have to be bent to get the right curvature:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Each bale is fixed with 3pcs of 1m long sticks going through another 1 1/2 bales.

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Gernot Minke with the rotational guide, very pleased the bales hold in place without additional support, even in the 4th row.

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Big wooden nails do the job:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

This is the building site with 30 workers. Scaffolding production in the foreground, lots of activities going on outside and inside of the dome.

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Today's worst job was to do the asfalt insulation before we can put in more bales in the valleys between the vaults.

From Strawbale Dome Minke

But all jobs are done with a smile!

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Even when the already finished infill had to be removed the spirits were high. We are still not sure how we will do the infills, but sorting it out slowly by trial and error.

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Our Lithuanians in action:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Group B posing for a group foto after finishing the 4th level of bales in the dome:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

"Exhausted" Dietmar:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Some fun at the end of the day! No idea where they take the energy from... enjoy:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

From Strawbale Dome Minke

From Strawbale Dome Minke

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Picture of the day: Our Straw Girl:

From Strawbale Dome Minke

Tomorrow there will be just half a day of work but for the rest of the weekend it is up to the participants what they want to do. Next week we start with clay plastering!