Pioneered Millenium Dome

This beautifully drawn and well explained project is modelled after the Millenium Dome in London. The instructions explain the whole process of construction, including the procedure to make the net which supports the plastic sheeting forming the dome. The net alone requires some 1700 feet (625m) of rope, so this is not a small project, but looks well worth the effort.

This project comes from the UK-based Pioneering Made Easy website, which has many original and unusual projects (I'd be particularly impressed to see a troop build one of these)

Simple Friction Lock 'Bridge' - Instructions

I've written about friction lock projects before- like this table and this pole rack. This post a simplified friction locking pioneering bridge.

The purpose of this project is as an 'icebreaker' in a pioneering session - even Scouts who have no knotting experience can build one of these 'bridges', and feel that they have achieved something. A patrol will gain confidence from this exercise that will motivate them to learn lashings during the later parts of the training session.

This project requires 9 Scout staves or similar sized poles (bamboo may be too slippery), and the instructions show a sequence for the construction of the bridge (inspired by my favourite childhood toy, of course). Click on the image to enlarge it, and print the enlarged image. Step 5 is the critical one: your Scouts should pay careful attention to the placement of the two transverse poles, making sure they go over and under the correct poles.

Using only these instructions, all of the patrols in our troop were able to build one of these bridges. The fastest was built in about 2 minutes (admittedly this patrol had built one before) but I would allow 10 minutes for Scouts who have no prior experience. Here is the first patrol finished, with a Scout testing the sturdiness of the structure (please excuse my grainy camera-phone photograph):

Scouting Cartoon- the Highwayman's Hitch

From John Sweet's weekly 1950's Scout magazine page. (...and more about the Highwayman's Hitch for those who are mystified by the cartoon)

Belgian arch bridge

This bridge was built at last year's Belgian Jamboree, by members of Ploeg Technieken, who have featured previously with the cloverleaf lashing. Kim notes that this was built 'only with manpower, no cranes, winching ... just people with hands ;-) '

This is a large and complex project, built from a series of smaller assemblies- see, for example, the 'ladders' that interlock to form the arches in the middle photograph below.

Thanks to Kim for sharing this. More photographs, including construction details and closeups of the model, here.