Raising the Roof: Creating the Kibbie Dome at the University of Idaho

Peter T. Johnson currently lives in McCall, Idaho, where he sculpts, paints, and writes.

Construction of the University of Idaho's unique Kibbie Dome, which won the American Society of Civil Engineer's Outstanding Structural Achievement Award for 1976, demonstrates what can be accomplished within a framework of limited budgets and tight time-lines. This volume illustrates how a small company, Trus Joist Corporation of Boise, Idaho, brought together a team of competent, motivated engineers and contractors to respond to the University of Idaho's request for an indoor stadium. The proposed structure would have a 400-foot clear span, with a clearance above the playing field equivalent to a twelve-story building, and would be the largest indoor college facility in the nation - all to be accomplished at a cost of less than one million dollars. Former Trus Joist CEO Peter T. Johnson details the events leading up to the award of the bid, the innovative use of Art Troutner's advances in wood products technology, and the roles of the engineers and contractors faced with the daunting task of constructing the Kibbie Dome.