Rammed Earth
Basics
- Rammed Earth is an ancient building method that has seen a revival in recent years
- It produces noncombustible, thermally massive, strong, and durable buildings
- However, walls can be labour-intensive to construct without machinery (powered tampers)
- Structures are susceptible to water damage if not adequately protected or maintained.
- Building a rammed-earth wall involves compressing a damp mixture of earth that has suitable proportions of sand, gravel and clay (sometimes with an added stabilizer (like with Stabalized CEBs ) into an externally supported frame or mould. The construction of an entire wall begins with a temporary frame, or formwork, similar to concrete
- Essentially :
- CEB is to Bricks/Concrete Blocks as
- Rammed Earth is to Concrete
Open Source Hardware Needs
- powered (pneumatic) tamper; this may require an air compressor
- temporary frame, i.e. formwork (usually wood, plywood, steel)
- equipment for excavating subsoil, e.g. backhoe
Internal Links
- Lime may be used as a stabilizer, and in fact historically a lot of rammed earth construction has used lime
- Lime plaster as an external covering for protection
- Earthco Megablock - not actually rammed earth but a somewhat related technique
- Reinforcement: hemp fibers, bamboo, steel, perhaps basalt fibers (unclear if this has been tried, but should work well)
- with proper subsoil composition, the principles of geopolymers may be applied
- $32k Rammed Earth House in India
External Links
- Rammed earth
- Nice overview - [1]
- A Page on this by " Semmes & Co. Builders, Inc"
