How long does it take to make a 16ft diameter dome?

Details below to help give an estimate

* Typical earthbag dome
* No heavy customization
* Using cut bags, not tubing
* The people who would be involved havent done earthbags before, but has one leader who has read and studied it and will lead the team
* The team is comprised of people who build concrete/brick houses
* People are available 6 hours a day, 5 days a week (sometimes 6 days a week)


I am wondering

1.  How many people need to be involved in order to get a multi-dome (3-4 domes connected) project done within 3 months, just the domes
2.  How long would it take to build a 16ft diameter dome with 3 people? With 4 people? with 5 people?

Lang Fren wrote:Details below to help give an estimate

* Typical earthbag dome
* No heavy customization
* Using cut bags, not tubing
* The people who would be involved havent done earthbags before, but has one leader who has read and studied it and will lead the team
* The team is comprised of people who build concrete/brick houses
* People are available 6 hours a day, 5 days a week (sometimes 6 days a week)


I am wondering

1.  How many people need to be involved in order to get a multi-dome (3-4 domes connected) project done within 3 months, just the domes
2.  How long would it take to build a 16ft diameter dome with 3 people? With 4 people? with 5 people?

If you're committed to earth bag construction please ignore this reply...
I recently built a 16' diameter papercrete dome, it took me 2 days using an airform to spray the inner shell (1" thick) and it would take a few more days to add the insulation layer (made of EPIC, a structural insulation I invented 12 years ago). This material is a papercrete variant containing EPS foam.

1. Your build location can definitely affect tool availability and your timeline. Do you have access to tool rental centers?
2. What climate are the domes going to be built in, and what is their purpose (housing, dry storage or ?)
If you're building a house for people, depending on the climate you're in earth bags may or may not be a good idea.
Labor cost is another big factor. If you have really cheap labor earth bag construction can make sense, where I'm at labor is fairly expensive and the climate requires insulation so I build accordingly.
I train people to build (online and in person) and can supply airforms (cost depends on size and shipping). Samples of papercrete and EPIC are available for evaluation.

Just a ballpark number is that for everything, from foundation to interior plastering, is ~500 human hours for a 16' dome. So two people could do it in 250 hours, 4 people in 125 hours, etc.

There's a lot of variability in there but hopefully that gives you a ballpark.

I would only build a earthbag house by using the proper clay soil mix of thirty percent clay and seventy percent clean soil for the stem walls on top of gravel filled bags for the foundation, a good book on all the steps involved in earthbag building is EARTHBAG BUILDING by KAKI HUNTER and DONALD KIFFMEYER.