Last week we built the bones of our second stationary drought structure at Rocky Ford. This morning we raised the plastic on the top of both. Both are now ready-to-roll for summer 2017 drought research.
A giant roll of plastic is heavier than you think
We connect the ropes to the plastic by tying them up like this. “It’s like making ghosts out of Kleenex balls” according to Jack Fry.
Next step – chucking the ropes up and over, using water bottles as weights.
Heaving the plastic up-and-over the first shelter
The plastic is about halfway up
Fun panorama-camera effect from the inside as the team installs the wiggle wire to hold the plastic in place.
Some last touches on shelter #1
PhD candidate Ross Braun was our fearless leader today, guiding us through the process. We are sure going to miss this guy after he graduates this year!
Shelter 1:
On the second shelter, we chucked ropes up and over using wrenches. It’s not every day a person literally gets to throw wrenches for work. That was my favorite part.
Good teamwork!
Securing the plastic up high
Fastening the plastic down with wiggle wire
Keeping the plastic from sailing away to Nebraska was part of the job.
Ready for action!
