That's a cool project bike. It reminds me of the early days of snowbiking, centered around Fairbanks AK, when side by side tires were one way it got done. Iditabike special equipment was incredibly creative and resourceful.
Simon Rakower of All Weather Sports in Fairbanks started making snowbike rims by taking two ordinary MTB rims, welding them together side by side, then tediously cutting and grinding out the center sidewalls. I don't envy that work at all, but it set the stage for fatbike as we know them.
When I commissioned my own kinda-fat bike from David Bohm, which was based on the then-huge Nokian Gazzaloddi 26x3.0" tire, I got some custom Snow Cat rims from All Weather Sports. They were "only" 45mm wide, but that was state of the art in circa 2000.
Thanks for posting this interesting find. It does indeed resemble some of the hacking and slashing I've done with my bikes over the years. Those wheels exceed some of the most confounded alternative lacings I've ever done, including 72 spokes laced cross-7, or 48 spokes laced crow's foot on a 32 hole hub double drilled with 64 holes.
