Friday, December 27, 2013 - 13:23
Students to build giant ice dome
A number of students from the Technical University of Eindhoven is going to build the world's largest ice dome, next month, in the village of Juuka in the middle of Finland.The dome will have a diameter of 30 meters (98.4 feet) and will be 10 meters (32.8 feet) high, which is enough to break the old word record of the Japanese Kokawa, who build an ice dome with a span of 25 meters (82 feet).
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KOKAWA, Tsutomu The students will use a mixture of wood chips and ice, called pykrete, which will be a first. It will ensure a solid structure that can carry weight well. They will first inflate a huge balloon on the building site that will serve as a mold. A network of ropes will be strung across the balloon, according to Jorrit Hijl, one of the students. In the following week ice and snow will be sprayed on layer for layer. 'In places where the construction requires extra reinforcement we will also add the mixture with chips to make the dome very strong,' said Hijl. 'When the dome melts in the summer, all that will be left is wood chips, so it's environmentally friendly.' Builders of ice hotels in Scandinavia will follow the activities of the Dutch closely. Those hotels, built entirely of ice, have a limited size due to the weight of the ice. With the Dutch construction method they hope to be able to build more rooms, hence increasing their revenues. The TU students leave in two days and to have broken the record on January 18.
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KOKAWA, Tsutomu The students will use a mixture of wood chips and ice, called pykrete, which will be a first. It will ensure a solid structure that can carry weight well. They will first inflate a huge balloon on the building site that will serve as a mold. A network of ropes will be strung across the balloon, according to Jorrit Hijl, one of the students. In the following week ice and snow will be sprayed on layer for layer. 'In places where the construction requires extra reinforcement we will also add the mixture with chips to make the dome very strong,' said Hijl. 'When the dome melts in the summer, all that will be left is wood chips, so it's environmentally friendly.' Builders of ice hotels in Scandinavia will follow the activities of the Dutch closely. Those hotels, built entirely of ice, have a limited size due to the weight of the ice. With the Dutch construction method they hope to be able to build more rooms, hence increasing their revenues. The TU students leave in two days and to have broken the record on January 18.