The Skydome floor on February 6, 2015. Still image from video below.
Almost a year after a sinkhole swallowed eight Corvettes, the Skydome at the National Corvette Museum is well on its way to being repaired and reopened. The hole has been filled ahead of the collapse’s one-year anniversary on February 12, and to mark the occasion the museum has announced a contest that will award the winner a Dana Forrester watercolor of the ZR1 Blue Devil’s recovery.
The Skydome floor on February 12, 2014. Photo courtesy National Corvette Museum.
There is a catch: Per project manager Zach Massey, the winner will need to correctly guess the amount of stone in tons needed to fill the sinkhole. Massey provides a bit of help for the effort, advising that the dimensions of the sinkhole are approximately 60 feet by 45 feet, with a depth of roughly 25 to 30 feet. That’s not precise enough to get an exact calculation, but it will probably get the winner in the ballpark (particularly if he has experience ordering crushed stone for fill). Unlike The Price is Right, there’s no penalty for going over the actual amount of fill used – the winner will be the person who comes closest to guessing the actual amount. In the event of duplicate winning guesses, the one with the earliest time stamp will be declared the winner. The contest ends at 8 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, February 12.
Filling the sinkhole, late in 2014. Still image from video.
The print is signed by the artist, Dana Forrester, but it’s also signed by the members of the recovery team, making it a collectible of interest for Corvette fans who’ve followed the museum’s saga closely over the past 12 months.
Resurrection, the Dana Forrester watercolor print of the Blue Devil’s recovery. Still image from video.
The next step in the rebuilding of the Skydome will be the sinking of 46 micropiles, which will be tied in to the physical structure of the slab itself. The perimeter of the structural slab has been poured, and the rebar used in constructing the outer wall will link the curved wall to the slab itself. Between this and the embedded micropiles, the new structure should be quite a bit stouter than the one it replaces.
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