Technology
Pacific Ocean Domes
Tel +678-547-4481
PO Box 6175 Port Vila, Vanuatu
daryll@pacificoceandomes.com
The Structural Plans of Pacific Ocean Domes have been reviewed, confirmed and certified that they are designed to similar Standards and parameters used in Vanuatu and as such, confirmed the Buildings are certifiable under the Vanuatu National Building Code and that all Design Loads are in line with AS/NZS 1170 – Structural Design actions for cyclonic and seismic loads.
The Pacific Ocean Domes construction process uses an Airform which is reusable and results in lower construction costs. The inflatable formwork we use determines the shape and size of the dome.
Pacific Ocean Domes is pioneering the use of a recently developed reinforcing technology called Basalt Reinforcing.
Basalt Reinforcing has many great advantages, some of which are:
- Basalt doesn't conduct electricity
- Basalt has the same expansion rate of concrete
- Basalt doesn't rust, which means that the POD's will NEVER suffer from concrete spalling, commonly known as concrete cancer.
Anybody who has lived near an ocean will recognize that spalling is endemic in such areas.
Whilst others have used Basalt Rebar on individual projects, Pacific Ocean Domes not only uses it exclusively on all its construction projects; but does not use any steel in contact with concrete. We have developed a method to replace the steel in all phases of the construction, where there is potential for concrete spalling. There is no steel in the concrete of any the buildings featured on this site.
The base of our POD's has a reinforced concrete ring beam with underfloor cross beams poured at the same time as the slab.
We don't do any underfloor plumbing, thus avoiding potential costly repairs if a pipe breaks during an earthquake. All plumbing comes through the wall. Therefore, if a pipe breaks it is just a simple case of digging up the dirt covering it and repairing the break.
As the life of these buildings will be measured in hundreds of years, this is very reassuring when considering the case of maintenance during such a long lifespan.
The Pacific Ocean Domes are constructed with an Airform, which is a balloon-like, inflatable structure that determines the shape and size of a dome, while the basalt provides a corrosion resistant structure for long maintenance free life.