Bruco, the Texas landmark

An aerial picture of Bruco, The Texas Italian Caterpillar, taken on drier days. Bruco is a one of the most recognizable highway landmarks in Texas.

The mud couldn’t keep dome fans away from the 2018 dome tour

Dave South • Published • Previous Years’ Monolithic Dome Tours

Hundreds of dome fans toured the Monolithic Dome Research Park on Saturday, October 20. After weeks of constant rain, the weather turned sunny, and it was a beautiful day. Even the with all the mud and standing water, people toured the offices, shops, and Bruco: The Texas Italian Caterpillar.

Unfortunately, because of all the mud, only one home was open for the tour — Charca Casa. It’s hard to overstate how much rain fell in northern Texas.

“We were pleased with how many came,” said Gary Clark, VP of Sales at Monolithic Constructors, Inc. “It seemed that we had the most passionate visitors this year. We were busy the entire time, answering questions and going over people’s house plans.”

Visitors came from all over the US.

Mike South, president of Monolithic, and the crew were demonstrating the automated cutting machine and RF fabric welders in Bruco, The Texas Italian Caterpillar. The cutting machine is also a plotter. It drew the Monolithic Logo on the lightweight vinyl material — similar, heavier material is used to manufacture inflatable Airform membranes. Then the machine cut around the logo. Mike would seam the material together using the RF welder, creating a vinyl bag.

“There was a line out the door to get a bag,” said Mike.

Next year the tour is scheduled for Saturday, October 19, 2019. Hopefully, it will be drier.

Arcadia Dome Home, Providence, Utah

That same day, Dave South, VP of Marketing, and his wife, Jennifer, showed their home — Arcadia. The weather was perfect — sunny and warm. This year they did not advertise locally and relied on the Monolithic Dome Roundup newsletter to bring visitors.

They estimate that 50 plus visitors came. All of them were prepared to discuss their dream domes. A couple came from Los Angeles wanting to build on their land in Maui. People came from Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and all over Utah.

“We were so busy,” said Jennifer. “There was only a short, 15-minute break around noon.”

Thank you to everyone who came to the dome tour. Arcadia is scheduled for next year, too, on October 19, 2019.

Tough vinyl bag

The Monolithic logo on a vinyl bag. “This bag is so tough,” said Michael South. “You could carry a full load of steel ball bearings.”