High Tunnel Construction

Here are some photos from our high tunnel construction project. I am sure Danielle, will explain the rationale and such on her blog later, but since I am known as Manuel on the farm I will just give you an idea of the construction. It is a simple design, 4 ft long rebar driven into the ground with 1 ½ inch pvc conduit slipped over it to form the hoops. The hoops themselves are 20 ft long and 14 ft across at the ground which makes the tunnel just under 6 ft high in the middle. The overall length of the house is 34 feet.

One of the great things about this type of building is that you can vary the dimensions to fit your space/needs. We wanted to get the most plantable area so we went with a slightly wider footprint, 14 ft for the 20 ft long hoops, most designs suggested a 12 ft span. Adding the extra 2 ft in width dropped the middle some, but since Danielle and the kids will be doing most of the work inside it makes little difference.

We were only able to get the conduit locally in 10 ft lengths, but they did come with bell ends so we were able to glue them together without a separate coupler. The kids helped me do the conduit gluing, and measuring out and pounding in of the rebar. Emily and I bent the hoops into position and slipped them over the rebar.








I will post pictures of the framed out ends, as well as the finished product when I get a chance.