Dome shelters are a great temporary structure, they are quick, easy to erect and come in a box all ready to go....ours come with a 610 gsm/ m2 cover ,and the frame and cover is engineered to 31meters per second wind loading...some to 41m/s.
The whole dome structure weighs less than 1 tonne normally, including the box.
We have had domes erected for 7 years in the katabatic winds of the Perth coastal plains....we also have clients with them in the cyclone areas of the northwest.
Like any structure it must be fixed and erected well to prevent any movement...installation and regular maintenance and tightening is a vital component of a long lasting dome.
Regardless of how it fixed or what it is fixed to ,being a temporary structure, like any tent like structure, there will be failures in high winds above 31 meters/ sec ..Or 41m/s.
We have not lost one in our 7 years in up to 100 km winds, but the law of averages says that one day, we may....one of our customers lost one in a violent thunderstorm in the Kalgoorlie goldfields last summer....we don’t know how it was fixed or erected, but even if it was perfectly erected ,it would not have stood the thunderstorm micro bursts and twisters, that the WA goldfields get in summer....there are many out there and 1 failed....we lost a couple in the winter storms in Perth coastal areas in the 2020 winter.
We now have customers all over Australia and some in Africa, and we can’t expect that extraordinary wind events won’t harm or destroy a few. We have 10 of our own in Perth, and if we get the right weather event we may lose one.....although it hasn’t happened yet...we accept that risk.
In erecting temporary structures we must all accept that we may lose one from time to time.....this is not a risk free society...,and using such temporary structures carries some risk ,that one will get blown away.
We can warranty against faulty manufacture for 12 months, and we do, but wind events are not the fault of the manufacturer.... if that were so many more would get damaged....and most don’t.
Given the price per Sqm, of a structure, to protect our equipment etc. we consider the risk - reward ratio, to be very acceptable.
We had our own domes on trial for 5 years before we ever sold one. To avoid risk altogether the best option ,and the only option, is to get planning approval and build a permanent structure ,from concrete and steel....at times even well-built sheds are lost, but they do minimise risk, considerably...
Damien Cole
15th June 2020
