Hello John,  

So far we have completed a total of seven (7) domes, the following sizes in two different locations we serve in our mission:  

#4 x 16 foot domes near the village of Dlangubo, Zululand, KZN. This is at the site of our mission partners iZulu Orphan Project (IOP) where we have trained about 25 health workers to do HIV, blood pressure, sugar and nutrition assessments over the past few years. This charity helps orphan children (largely as a result of the HIV and AIDS epidemic here) to attend school and assists with school fees, uniforms and supplemental food for the most at need families. This is located in a rural area which is under the administration of a Zulu tribal induna.  

#3 x 10 foot domes in Amaoti, a peri-urban settlement on the NW fringe of the Durban metropolis. These domes are used by health builders we have trained in this community for quail and layer chicken housing.  

The response of people who have the domes is amazement at how well they work for housing poultry in this setting. Also how weather resistant (wind, rain) and how few poultry have been lost due to overheating or thirst issues in the domes. We have lost a few quail due to the quail sticking their necks outside through the chicken wire and cats grabbing them. No animals are getting into the domes. For the most part the constraint here is that people don’t have access to much land and this means that the domes are mainly static structures. What little grass there is is likely to be eaten by cattle or goats in our settings.

We are also interested in using the domes as nurseries for fruit trees and Chaya, a plant we introduced in our area originally from Central America.  

People have commented that they could live in these domes and like the look. They are very similar in shape to the traditional Zulu beehive hut. I am sending a picture of one of these for you. I think that this similarity has led to an acceptance of the design from an aesthetic point of view in the Zulu communities.  

We are planning on building many more of these domes and funding permits and also as we have worthy partners to build them for. We prioritize men and women who are helping us train other health builders and running Discovering God Together groups in their area. The poultry skills training we engage in prepares them for all aspects of the life cycle of poultry and also the local marketing of the birds. We do incubation, brooding, growing out, laying and hatching operations for the Potch Koekoek chickens and jumbo Japanese quail.  

The domes are very strong and we hang food and water from the hubs. We have used rags to protect the tarps from the exposed edges of the hubs. We have had no theft issues or removal of chicken wire from the structures.  

Our local prices for materials are probably similar to the US. I paid $76 each for six rolls of 1.2M x 50M 25mm hexagonal galvanized chicken mesh just a few days ago. One roll does one 16 foot dome. We pay $67 for two 4 x 4M tarps which have grommets for placing over the domes. I paid about $150 for the PVC pipe for the spars, another $35 for the hubs and collars, $25 for the large zip ties and $12 for the small cable ties. The total costs for a 16 foot dome in my setting is therefore about $365 for the parts plus time for cutting and assembly.  

I will be in the US for a family reunion in about ten days in California. If you would recommend your preferred vendor for Forstner bits and a tool to sharpen same I would be much obliged. I will send you photos in this post and more later.  

Yours in Christ,

Rick Gutierrez

11/29/2020

Dear John Hurt,

Happy Thanksgiving from your brothers in Christ in South Africa. My fellow missionary from Oliver Springs Tennessee and I are trying to build a tunnel dome for vegetables this weekend. We are running into some trouble keeping it up. We were thinking to put four (4) 110mm pipe supports under the “tunnel” section of the structure to add some strength. Do you have any ideas or further experience with the early tunnel dome. This will be for stringing tomatoes. I continue to use your hub design in structures for poultry and trees. I will send some attached pictures. Thank you for your insights if you are able to offer any.

Yours in Christ,

Rick Gutierrez, MD

Bethel Health Builders

6/14/2022

Dear John,

I want to congratulate you on your updated Dome Calculator and many new featured designs, including the Geodesic Tunnel Dome series designed by your Canadian colleague.

I have been putting up lots of silo domes for Fruit Tree Nurseries and also regular 2V 1/2 Sphere domes for chickens for the development of our partners here in South Africa. You may have read of our riots last July or our terrible floods starting April of this year. Our area of the country was particularly hit hard. 

When I woke up Saturday morning early I logged into to Dome calculator to make plans for a Silo Dome for tree nursery.... and saw the beautiful tunnel dome pictures. I cut one measuring 2.57 meters tall, using heavy hubs 110mm OD Class 12 collars and 50mm OD Class 16 Necks, 32 mm OD Class 16 Studs or Spars. It took about two hours with one assistant to assemble the first time.

This design is STRONG and STABLE!!! Hallelujah!! I am now sewing an 80 percent shadecloth cover which will cover the top tiers of the tunnel dome. When that is done I will send you some pictures and an updated story on how we are using your excellent designs and hubs. You are always welcome to visit us and see some of your African domes if you come this way.

The total local price for the sturdy well built tunnel dome was about $232 US dollars, to cover an area of 25m2 or 270ft2. I will be looking more into the stability of these tunnel domes and consider building out the extension versions. Do you have any feedback on the stability of the extension versions of the tunnels vs the Tunnel 0 design?

Thank you for your excellent ministry of shelter for all kinds of purposes. Know that the Lord who designed a Geodesic Universe is with you!

Yours in Christ,

Rick Gutierrez

6/16/22

Hello John,

Thank you for the comprehensive and excellent response to my email! 

I have been too busy to write back today but was planning to send you some pictures and a nice response in the next few days.

Your photos and detailed description is excellent. I can blow up the images and see them up close too. Kudos to whoever did that finely placed drilling on the hub collars. That is some fine drill control!! 

Tomorrow I hope to add the nice shade cloth cover I sewed  to the tunnel dome I put up Monday. It took a bit to get it all sewed. 

I hope to build a few more this next few months.

I am amazed at how well informed you are about the current and recent situation in South Africa… even down to the Guptas and state capture. Now if I knew that much about what was happening in Tennessee I would be as impressive as you!! 

My friend and fellow missionary Greg Evans from Oliver Springs TN will be visiting me Wednesday and wants to see the tunnel dome.

I know your work must keep you very busy. Writing to me was a real honor on my side. Like you I was a big Bucky Fuller fan as a young man and read all his books (as far as one can) including Synergetic Energetic Geometry. As a middle aged man and follower of Jesus, I am no longer looking for human heroes. I appreciated therefore your write up a few years ago looking more closely into to attribution by RBF into the creation of the tensegrity designs (and not attributing his students etc.) and even the patenting of the geodesic design. 

I spend my time between medicine, trees and chickens. You and I are blessed to live in these days where we have the Gospel at our hands and are also able to minister to people’s needs with the skills God gave us. 

Building and maintaining domes here has been a source of joy and pleasure for since you first gave me permission to use your design of the hubs. Your calculator just makes it easy to build what is needed. Kudos to all you and your team are doing!!

Blessings in Christ,

Rick