Our new pier consists of over 6,000 pounds

of cement and 300+ pounds of steel.

Five feet of the pier is below ground level.

So far, all we have is a really nice observing platform with a very stable pier.

The pier is isolated from the deck by a 2"-3" air gap so that movement on the

deck won't affect the image. We're planning to add 8 walls, a rotating dome,

and a much bigger and better telescope.

But for financial reasons, we may have to wait until next year.

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Another octagonal redwood deck is being built to go around

a fine old double-trunk oak tree about 500 yards west of

and 75 feet below the elevation of the house.

The deck design is modular and the main construction was

done near the garage where power was available.

It's now been disassembled and will be moved

down to its new home and reassembled.

Click here to see a small animation of the main construction.

It consists of 18 images that will have to load

before they can be animated.

To see larger animations, you can click on the image,

but keep in mind that as the images get larger,

the download time increases.