Making Compressed Earth Blocks
- Earth: The Magic Building Material Jim Hallock, Director of Earth Block Operations at The Villages of Loreto Bay. Jackie Craven ...
- Sift the Clay Before Making the Compressed Earth Blocks, the Clay Must Be Sifted. ...
- Stabilize the Clay he Mortar Is Mixed at the Building Site. ...
- Compress the Mixture Earth Block Compressor. ...
- Local Materials, Local Workers ...
- Let the Earth Cure ...
- Stack the Blocks ...
- Reinforce the Blocks ...
Full Answer
Sustainability of compressed earth as a construction material
C. Egenti, J.M. Khatib, in Sustainability of Construction Materials (Second Edition), 2016
Dry-stack and compressed stabilized earth-block construction
H.C. Uzoegbo, in Nonconventional and Vernacular Construction Materials (Second Edition), 2020
Conclusion
J.M. Khatib, in Sustainability of Construction Materials (Second Edition), 2016
European modern earth construction
CRATerre-EAG helped to ensure the conception and realisation of two significant modern earth building projects using stabilised compressed earth blocks in the 1980s. These were Villefontaine and the Domaine de la Terre housing complex at I’Isle d’beau (Fig. 23.15) which includes modern houses ( Fig. 23.16) and apartments ( Fig. 23.17 ).
Modern earth building codes, standards and normative development
Two approaches are used in earth building standards to quantify the parameters ‘grain composition’ and ‘plasticity’ for soils suitable for building:
Introduction
The sustainability of compressed earth as a construction material is covered in Chapter 13. The chapter starts with a general introduction on the need to use materials for construction in a sustainable way. Then the chapter describes the environmental issues regarding the use of earth as a potential construction material.
Introduction to eco-efficient masonry bricks and blocks
The first masonry units were based on dried mud and were used for the first time around 8000 BC in Mesopotamia, an area bordered by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers stretching from Southeast Turkey, Northern Syria, and Iraq reaching the Persian Gulf ( Pacheco-Torgal & Jalali, 2011 ).
Development
CEB technology has been developed for low-cost construction, as an alternative to adobe, and with some advantages. A commercial industry has been advanced by eco-friendly contractors, manufacturers of the mechanical presses, and by cultural acceptance of the method.
Advantages
Minimal or no need for mortar, thus reducing both the labor and materials costs.
Disadvantages
There is a wait-time required with this construction technique, because after the blocks are pressed, materials must dry.
Presses
CEB had very limited use prior to the 1980s. It was known in the 1950s in South America, where one of the most well-known presses, the Cinva Ram, was developed by Raul Ramirez in the Inter-American Housing Center (CINVA) in Bogota, Colombia.
Finishing
Completed walls require either a reinforced bond beam or a ring beam on top or between floors and if the blocks are not stabilized, a plaster finish, usually stucco wire/stucco cement and/or lime plaster. Stabilized blocks can be left exposed with no outer plaster finish.
Foundations
Standards for foundations are similar to those for brick walls. A CEB wall is heavy. Footings must be at least 10 inches thick, with a minimum width that is 33 percent greater than the wall width. If a stem wall is used, it shall extend to an elevation not less than eight inches (203 mm) above the exterior finish grade.
Strength
Using the ASTM D1633-00 stabilization standard, a pressed and cured block must be submerged in water for four hours. It is then pulled from the water and immediately subjected to a compression test. The blocks must score at least a 300 pound-force per square inch (p.s.i) (2 MPa) minimum.
Earth: The Magic Building Material
Jim Hallock, Director of Earth Block Operations at The Villages of Loreto Bay. Jackie Craven
Sift the Clay
Before Making the Compressed Earth Blocks, the Clay Must Be Sifted. Jackie Craven
Add Color
Homes in the Villages of Loreto Bay Are Finished With Organic Mineral Oxide Pigments That Bond With the Lime Plaster. Jackie Craven
Sources
Hallock, Jim. Compressed Earth Blocks: Why and How, Here and There, May 7, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuQB3x4ZNeA
