Here is Kevin starting the dirt work.
Here is Doyle and Crew pouring the concrete.
My plan was to pour concrete footers for the telescope piers.
I plan on building steel piers that will bolt on the footers.
I wanted the footers to be below floor level since I was going to start with one telescope.
I had planned on 18 inch sono tube for the pier footers.
No one in town had 18 inch sono tube so we went with 24 inch (bigger should be better).
The base of the footer is 4 ft X 4 ft X 1 ft thick.
The base is 4 feet below ground level.
The concrete work is done!
A neighbor gave me a bucket of foot long, 3/4 inch bolts. I welded the bolts together and welded some short rebar across the bolts to anchor in the concrete.
I built a plywood jig to hold the bolts in the proper position when the bolts were
set in the concrete. I finished about 30 minutes before the concrete truck arrived.
The next day, Doyle and his crew started framing the observatory.
Later that afternoon, the framing of the observatory is finished.
Doyle and his men accomplished more in two days that I could in six months.