the crane the crane

[CuseLegacy]

Morning update:

Crane 5 has not moved in a very long time. It is a big, heavy crane and it is being asked to haul some heavy metal pieces a long way. That would be fine but they are trying to make this happen from the middle of a steep hill. If you look at the base of the crane, it is clear they went to some lengths to try and get it stable and provide a solid platform to operate from.

I know they did a little testing once it was finished. My speculation is that the testing did not go well. My speculation is that it was determined that the crane is not stable enough to lift heavy loads. What next? I don't know. Maybe they are waiting for some specialized base for cranes that allow them to operate on steep hills.

I haven't seen any movement with the mystery blue fabric that was put on top of the PTFE part of the roof a couple of days ago. My guess is that it was secured there for later installation, and they are going to hold off on that until the hard shell is finished.

Speaking of the hard shell, there is still some steel going up on the east end. Last I knew, even as late as this morning, the cranes at the northeast and southeast corners of the dome were at work. They have to be very close to finishing.

Progress on getting the grey-blue base on the roof has been very slow. It is weird because when they start work on a section, it goes very fast. It appears they can complete a section in 30 or 45 minutes. Why are there such long delays?

And why are they putting those weird shard shaped pieces (they appear to be metal) on top?

Will they soon start installing more of the grey-blue treatment in other parts of the hard shell?

With the press not covering this at all, the SU project management team very tight lipped and everyone on the crew ordered not to post anything on the Internet, information is very hard to come by. BillSU and his project manager friend might be our only hope.

Maybe the shards are like the snow guards they put on metal roofs to keep the snow build up from sliding down on the heads of unsuspecting passerbies below.

 

[Geode]

Looks like white girders being delivered to finally start closing the gap on the southside.

 

[CuseLegacy]

They are putting something over the steel that was still visible between the panels,

 

[sutomcat]

They are putting something over the steel that was still visible between the panels,

Yes, it looks like they have been lifting up the tarps (or whatever it is covering the panels) at the edges of the section and connecting the tarps together, so the steel frame is no longer exposed.

But they are using the shard shaped pieces to help accomplish this. They are apparently meant to facilitate joining the sections and covering the metal frame of the roof that is still exposed.

 

[OttoMets]

...

But it was a lot smaller than this center section. And the fabric for the new roof will be more translucent than the old roof was. Of course, the hard shell part of the roof will block 100% of the light from coming in.

I will be interested to see how much natural light comes in from the outside on a sunny day once the new roof is completed. My guess is it will end up being pretty close to the the same as the old roof, but there will be a much different feel with a big part of the roof blocking the sun completely.

Overall it'll be darker for the reasons you note: the translucent portion won't be more translucent than the portion it replaces than the steel portion will be darker than the portion that it replaces.

To the materials:

I believe the blue stuff is some kind of safety netting installed in preparation for the actual center roof work.

And the steel decking is definitely the corrugated stuff - flexible enough that it needs support to stay rigid enough to be hoisted by the cranes, but strong enough to support the workers when it's laid across a few rafters.

 

[sutomcat]

Overall it'll be darker for the reasons you note: the translucent portion won't be more translucent than the portion it replaces than the steel portion will be darker than the portion that it replaces.

To the materials:

I believe the blue stuff is some kind of safety netting installed in preparation for the actual center roof work.

And the steel decking is definitely the corrugated stuff - flexible enough that it needs support to stay rigid enough to be hoisted by the cranes, but strong enough to support the workers when it's laid across a few rafters.

The safety net theory makes good sense to me.

I can't imagine this flexible corrugated steel is going to be the exterior surface for the roof. That is not possible, correct?

Of course, it already isn't. There is the grey-blue tarp that serves as the outer layer right now.

It looks like they are going to great pains to get the tarp very smooth and completely aligned. Is that because it is going to be the exterior of the roof, or because a composite metal layer is coming afterwards, and the surface needs to be smooth and clean in order for the composite metal layer to go on properly?

If they actually have to install 2, arguably 3 layers (corrugated steel, tarp and composite metal), this is going to take a while to get done. Especially given the issues with Crane 5.

 

[DoubleDee]

Whats up with the blacked out rectangle on the RTH cam?

 

[Chip]

Morning update:

Crane 5 has not moved in a very long time. It is a big, heavy crane and it is being asked to haul some heavy metal pieces a long way.

I think you should name the cranes.

Jim has not moved in a very long time. He's big, heavy and is being asked to haul some heavy metal pieces a long way.

I feel bad for Jim. He has a tough job and obviously doesn't keep in great shape.

 

[sutomcat]

I think you should name the cranes.

Jim has not moved in a very long time. He's big, heavy and is being asked to haul some heavy metal pieces a long way.

I feel bad for Jim. He has a tough job and obviously doesn't keep in great shape.

Yup. Jim appears to be hung over.

 

[DoubleDee]

Whats up with the blacked out rectangle on the RTH cam?

Nevermind. Now it's not even showing the Dome at all.

 

[BillSU]

Morning update:

Crane 5 has not moved in a very long time. It is a big, heavy crane and it is being asked to haul some heavy metal pieces a long way. That would be fine but they are trying to make this happen from the middle of a steep hill. If you look at the base of the crane, it is clear they went to some lengths to try and get it stable and provide a solid platform to operate from.

I know they did a little testing once it was finished. My speculation is that the testing did not go well. My speculation is that it was determined that the crane is not stable enough to lift heavy loads. What next? I don't know. Maybe they are waiting for some specialized base for cranes that allow them to operate on steep hills.

I haven't seen any movement with the mystery blue fabric that was put on top of the PTFE part of the roof a couple of days ago. My guess is that it was secured there for later installation, and they are going to hold off on that until the hard shell is finished.

Speaking of the hard shell, there is still some steel going up on the east end. Last I knew, even as late as this morning, the cranes at the northeast and southeast corners of the dome were at work. They have to be very close to finishing.

Progress on getting the grey-blue base on the roof has been very slow. It is weird because when they start work on a section, it goes very fast. It appears they can complete a section in 30 or 45 minutes. Why are there such long delays?

And why are they putting those weird shard shaped pieces (they appear to be metal) on top?

Will they soon start installing more of the grey-blue treatment in other parts of the hard shell?

With the press not covering this at all, the SU project management team very tight lipped and everyone on the crew ordered not to post anything on the Internet, information is very hard to come by. BillSU and his project manager friend might be our only hope.

Letters were sent to both Geiger and Hayner Hoyt inquiring about what the material was the crew was placing over the steel. That was last Saturday.

I have received no answer from either. However I am going to send another letter to Geiger as I did not send it to the Engineer of Record David Campbell, I sent it to the e mail address listed when you click the CONTACT link. The new one, which I will send out today, will go to Mr. Campbell and we will see if he responds as he did the first time I contacted him.

All of this is not very complicated - we are asking what the material is that is an underlayment to the rigid panels that will be installed at some point. Last Saturday it took a long time, IMHO, to place whatever the light blue material is and tomcat has informed us that there are 96 of them at 2 hours, ( it took that long Saturday ), each that 's 192 hours which is, based on a 40 hour /week, almost 5 weeks just to get these things down ready for the metal panels. They have to be able to place these down faster than that.

 

[sutomcat]

Nevermind. Now it's not even showing the Dome at all.

Bummer. That camera was set up on top of Hinds Hall specifically to film the comings and goings of the red tailed hawk family that live at Lyman.
It looks like
a) they returned it to that mission and
b) the hawks have moved to another location

A most unfortunate outcome.

 

[DoubleDee]

Bummer. That camera was set up on top of Hinds Hall specifically to film the comings and goings of the red tailed hawk family that live at Lyman.
It looks like
a) they returned it to that mission and
b) the hawks have moved to another location

A most unfortunate outcome.

Yeah that was perhaps the nicest and clearest view of this operation.

 

[sutomcat]

Yeah that was perhaps the nicest and clearest view of this operation.

Maybe they will eventually point it back the Dome. It looks like the nest moved so there is nothing to show looking at Lyman.

In the meantime, a large number of large boxes have arrived in the west storage area. Hoping these hold the much discussed composite metal panels. They do not appear to be the unpainted wooden boxes I and others have taken pictures of that are in the Hendricks Field storage area.

Lastly, I drove by the lots across from Carrier on Thompson Road yesterday. Everything there is gone. Which makes sense given how far along the hard shell installation is.

 

[DoubleDee]

Here's a stupid thought. Have they failed to close the gap in order to lower in our massive new scoreboard, or will they truck that into the dome in pieces and assemble inside?

Hey I told you it was stupid.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Large truck just at arrived at west lot with what looks like white roof panels.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Large truck just at arrived at west lot with what looks like white roof panels.

And one load already unloaded.

 

[sutomcat]

Here's a stupid thought. Have they failed to close the gap in order to lower in our massive new scoreboard, or will they truck that into the dome in pieces and assemble inside?

Hey I told you it was stupid.

I believe the plan was to truck it disassembled and assemble it again on the dome floor. Would guess it will get in the way of the roof construction so this probably won't happen until the roof is close to be completed.
But I could be wrong on that...

I feel better about the white boxes holding roof panels after the second big flatbed load of them arrived. Whatever it in those boxes looks likely to be the exterior surface of the roof.

Cool white boxes.

 

[Shenexon]

And one load already unloaded.

 

[CuseLegacy]

I believe the plan was to truck it disassembled and assemble it again on the dome floor. Would guess it will get in the way of the roof construction so this probably won't happen until the roof is close to be completed.
But I could be wrong on that...

I feel better about the white boxes holding roof panels after the second big flatbed load of them arrived. Whatever it in those boxes looks likely to be the exterior surface of the roof.

Cool white boxes.

Those might not be boxes but the panels.

 

[CuseLegacy]

The safety net theory makes good sense to me.

I can't imagine this flexible corrugated steel is going to be the exterior surface for the roof. That is not possible, correct?

Of course, it already isn't. There is the grey-blue tarp that serves as the outer layer right now.

It looks like they are going to great pains to get the tarp very smooth and completely aligned. Is that because it is going to be the exterior of the roof, or because a composite metal layer is coming afterwards, and the surface needs to be smooth and clean in order for the composite metal layer to go on properly?

If they actually have to install 2, arguably 3 layers (corrugated steel, tarp and composite metal), this is going to take a while to get done. Especially given the issues with Crane 5.

Fwiw, I saw this video on youtube the other day. Some type of blue material goes over the arcs before some type of white material goes over both. Starts around the 1:42 mark.

 

[BillSU]

The bright, white panels / boxes per tomcat have to be over 3'x 6'. A crewman was standing next to a stack being unloaded and so there was scale to judge the size of them by. Tomcat / Legacy are you certain these are for the roof - what are they used for on the roof? We have rigid panels and tension membrane - I do not see these in Geigers rendering!? There is a pickup truck parked right next to the first stack of them and the length to me matches the length of the truck. What are they? Another full truck load of them at 4:20 P.M. Rectangular panels about 3' x 10'. More surprises.

I know everyone knows but I thought I'd post this anyway:
> un-der-lay-ment = a layer between a sub floor and a finished floor that facilitates leveling and adhesion - in this case pertaining to elements of a roof.

I believe from the beginning they should have had a ticker below the picture of the Dome indicating what everything is that comes into the yard and other areas so we don't have to guess. but maybe that would take fun and investigation out of it!
The trucks must be lined up down Irving - here's another with more white panels at 4:44.

 

[reedny]

Sometimes I get the feeling this crew is messing with me.

In the last few minutes, some stuff has been brought up from the western storage area and placed on the first section that got the grey-blue treatment.

I don't know what it is. It looks kind of like shards of grey colored glass. I will bet they are metal but the shapes are very strange.
A bunch have been put up near the base of the section, pointing up, giving it the look of a grey tiger.

What in the world is going on?

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I don't know what it is. It looks kind of like shards of grey colored glass. I will bet they are metal but the shapes are very strange.

It's either an optical illusion or an acute case of roof overload.

 

[BillSU]

Dear Mr. Campbell,

Another question from The Dome Roof Observers at Syracuse University. I hope you will answer this as it has raised many questions among those watching the project.

This past Saturday I watched as light blue panels were rolled into place over the steel section in place beginning on the West corner. We were not expecting these as they are not shown in the rendering. It has been decided that these are underlayments for the rigid panels shown on the rendering and described in the support copy accompanying the rendering.

If you could confirm what these are it would be appreciated.

Regards,
Bill Phillips, SU'68,SUID

 

[CuseLegacy]

And here comes another load of panels.

And more wooden crates going inside...or is that a tarped load.