09-17-2018, 11:29 AM
(09-17-2018, 10:19 AM)KevinL Wrote: Many people familiar with basic concrete construction felt it was unnecessary, given their understanding of the dynamics. This was a different project in a number of ways, due to the sheer bulk of the structure and that it was built from the surface down, so the engineer on the tour was able to highlight those differences and indicate why it was indeed needed.
One would hope that people familiar with concrete construction would know that it needs to be above 10°C to cure properly, and that chemical admixtures that provide an exothermic reaction to keep it warm can only take that down to -7°C. Anybody who lives around here knows that February gets a lot colder than -7°C. :-)
The argument that dome was not needed because a summer time rail stoppage could have been negotiated is plausible (though not provable without inside knowledge of the negotiations), but that's got nothing to do with concrete. The concrete argument, though, is implausible.