Rammed Earth

ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
FINAL
INTERNSHIP
REPORT
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
NAME OF INTERN- MULUGETA GEBRE

ID-ETR/5338/07
INTERNSHIP LENGTH- OCT 1-JAN 27-2018
MENTOR NAME- ARCHITECT DEREJE
DATE OF SUBMISSION- JAN 29-2018
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Table of content
Executive summary
Acknowledgment
Declaration
Company profile
 Back ground
 Mission statement
 Organization
 Design
 Project management
 Fields of specialization
 Information technologies capabilities
 Fields of specializing
 Organizational structure
 Project management
 Consultancy
OVER ALL INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
 How I got in to the company

 The sections in the company
 The workflow
 Work task that i have been doing
 Work procurers
 How good have i been performing?
 What challenges have i faced?
 What measures have I taken
OVERALL BENEFITS
 Theoretical knowledge
 Interpersonal communication skills
 Team playing skills
 Leader ship skills
 Work ethics related issue
 Entrepreneurship skills
Recommendation
Conclusion
References
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Acknowledgments
First of all we would like to thank the almighty God for being with us through this
challenge. Secondly we want to thank our friend where is in EIABC University for sharing
ideas with us regarding this project. Last but not least we would like to thank our
instructors for giving us the project so that makes us to dig and read many reference
which related to different construction material specially the one what we are
researching and it enable us to have some deep knowledge about our specific title.
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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to have general knowledge about the specific
construction material in general. Since our work harshly related with building
design and construction, our knowledge level should elevate beyond the
earliest time so we can maintain whatever material based on our client need, in
order to that we should have enough information about construction material.
The paper illustrates specifically about the one material called rammed earth
including the development of the material, property of material, the design
process it consists as well as the construction process and case study.
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Jimma institute of technology
Dep. of architecture and urban
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planning Appropriate design
BACKGROUND
INTRODUCTION
The term ‘rammed earth’ refers both to a material (a mixture of sand, gravel and
clay) and to a construction procedure whereby walls are built using this material rammed
in layers between formwork. (When a cementing material is also added, the material is
known as ‘stabilised’ rammed earth. This note is concerned only with ‘unstabilised’
rammed earth.) The technique has been in use by humanity for thousands of years, and
many historic structures containing rammed earth features remain standing to this day.
Examples include the Potala Palace in Tibet and the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.
Until recently, rammed earth was regarded much as masonry was regarded until the
1950s: that is, a building material for which design was, in general, based on heur-istics
and past experience. As with masonry, however, the need to use rammed earth and
other earth building materials in unusual situations, or subject to unusual loadings,
prompted further scientific examination.
The modern resurgence in rammed earth is concentrated in particular parts of the world,
such as California and Western Australia, but there is interest in the UK, as evidenced by
the recent production of a design guide (Walker et al., 2005). There has been surprisingly
little investigation of rammed earth through laboratory testing to date, although it is clear
that greater understanding is needed, both to conserve historic rammed earth structures
and to promote the spread of new-build rammed earth. External rammed earth walls
can be subjected to large changes in humidity and incident wetting from rainfall.
To date, rammed earth has been regarded as a structural material much like masonry or
concrete, and rules for design have developed accordingly. Little advice is available on
the analysis of rammed earth structures, and even less on the origins of the material’s
strength. Walker et al. (2005) contains much guidance for the design and construction of
rammed earth walls, which indicates that the most widely used measure of strength is
unconfined compressive strength.
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planning -
Appropriate design
Property of Material
A GEOTECHNICAL MATERIAL
Thinking geotechnically, rammed earth can be regarded as a compacted soil, but

constructed into a form that is not usually considered for soil (i.e. a wall). Since the
material is initially compacted and then allowed to dry it will be unsaturated, where the
soil particles are surrounded by air in addition to water.
It is widely accepted that unsaturated soils achieve a component of strength through

matric suction, s = ua - uw (where ua is the pore air pressure and uw is the pore water
pressure), which can be considered as an apparent cohesion. As soils dry, so suction
increases, and consequently there is an increase in apparent cohesion and hence
strength.
Clearly this suction-induced increase of apparent cohesion is not unlimited. Toll & Ong
(2003) show that the contribu-tion to strength from suction in a sandy clay reduces as the
degree of saturation reduces. So, although suction increases as the soil dries out, the
contribution to strength reaches a peak and then drops away (Toll, 1991). The apparent
cohe-sion is therefore expected to peak between the two limits of zero water content
and saturation. It should, however, be recognised that zero water content corresponds
to an ideal limit condition as, even for an oven-dry soil, adsorbed water will still be present
on clay particles and will be available to generate suctions.
Total suction is the sum of matric suction and osmotic suction, which is a function of the
salts dissolved in the pore water. Total suction is linked to the relative humidity RH of the
pore air through Kelvin’s equation, which can be expressed as
where R is the universal gas constant, T is absolute temperature, pw is the density of water,
and wv is the molecular mass of water vapour (Likos & Lu, 2002). Equation (1) shows that
variations in RH between 100% and 95% lead to total suctions up to 1000 kPa.
Development of suctions beyond this point requires very large changes in RH. These
appear more likely for soil in a rammed earth wall than, for instance, soil in the vadose
zone (owing to the larger sur-face-to-volume ratio in the former case). Evaporation of
pore water is affected by the relative humidity of the pore air compared with that of the
adjacent air outside the wall. In practice, drying of the walls will continue until the pore
air humidity equals the humidity of the surrounding air.
Given the above, it seems obvious that a component of the strength of rammed earth
must be due to matric suction, although this has not been proposed in the past, to our
knowledge. A small programme of simple geotechnical test-ing was carried out to
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provide evidence of a link between matric suction and strength in rammed earth
materials using tests that would be accessible outside the specialist geo-technical testing
community. All tests were undertaken at constant water content, and are similar to some
of those described in Vanapalli & Fredlund (1997) and Vanapalli et al. (1998). The tests
are preliminary, and form the first part of a larger programme of research under way at
Durham University. In addition to suction, there must also be a component of strength
due to the ramming process, which will produce increased strength due to densification
and possibly particle interlock, but this aspect is not investigated here.
THE STRENGTH OF UNSTABILISED RAMMED EARTH MATERIALS
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The rammed earth mixture used in this study was taken from a development site at Aykley
Heads, Durham, which included a large rammed earth wall. The mixture used on site was
blended from material dug locally (alluvial sand), coarse aggregate and a powdered
clay/silt mixed in proportions ( 0.25 : 0.60 : 0.15; aggregate : sand : clay) using a horizontal-
axis mixer. For the purposes of these tests this rammed earth mixture was sieved to remove
material retained on a 14 mm sieve. The particle size distribution for the test material is
shown in Fig. 2.
Prior to sample preparation, the compaction curve for this rammed earth mixture was
obtained by using a vibrating hammer (to BS 1377). This is shown in Fig. 3, and indicates
that a sample prepared at a water content of 12% is close to saturation: corresponding
to site practice as outlined above, this was the water content used to compact all
samples tested in this work. The vibrating hammer test was used in preference to the
standard Proctor test as it better resembled the compaction effort in a real rammed earth
wall and in the sample preparation described below.
Cylindrical samples (200 mm 3 100 mm diameter) were prepared using a Proctor split
compaction mould, as outlined in Walker (2002), with modifications developed at
Durham. Samples were compacted in five layers using 15 blows of a 4.5 kg hammer each
time, following which a screed of particles passing a 425 m sieve was placed on the top
surface of the cylinder. This screed produced a flat loading surface and a fine particle
paste on which to place the tension meter used to measure matric suction.
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Fig. 1.1 Particle size distribution of rammed earth mix
Fig. 1.2. Compaction curve from vibrating hammer test
Immediately following application of this screed, the Proctor split mould was removed
and the mass and height of the sample recorded. Dry densities between 2017 and 2061
Mg/m3 (similar to the dry density corresponding to a water content of 12% in the
compaction curve of Fig. 1) were achieved using the same compactive effort each time.
Once samples had air-dried to their respective target water contents (mon-itored
through regular weighing), they were wrapped in an impermeable sheath secured with
rubber O-rings placed against steel loading plates at the top and bottom. Target water
contents were chosen to provide a well-spaced range of results. The samples were then
left for at least 7 days to allow suctions to equilibrate throughout the sample, follow-ing
which it was considered that the samples were ready for testing.
The samples were sheared under constant water content conditions in a triaxial rig.
Displacement was controlled at a constant 0.1 mm/min and measurements of suction,
load and axial displacement taken every 10 s. High-capacity tensi-ometers were used to
allow direct measurement of suction at the top of the sample throughout the test
(Lourenço et al., 2006).
Rammed earth Development

Casa Grande is one of the most important pre-colonial ruins in the USA (Arizona)
and came to notice after 650 years of abandonment and weathering (Fig.1). The main
building had three stories made in a type of cob and rammed earth techniques without
using formwork and it is still standing up, which shows how resistant and durable these
techniques can be. Despite this evidence and all the cultural influences brought from
colonization and emigration periods, what caught the public attention, in the mid 19th
century was “the first book, devoted entirely to earth construction, that has been
published in the USA. Holland’s publication is considered2 the promoter of the first wave
of interest in earthen construction in the USA, subsequent to other waves up to the
present, showing that such techniques have not conquered yet a clear position on the
construction world. With the industrial revolution, earthen construction techniques have
been just an economic alternative to conventional construction. Since then, architecture
exists on the spectrum of expensive but unique craftsmanship, to the standardization of
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design. The high level of industrialization, particularly in the USA, lead to an extreme point
where concrete, wood frame or metal structures allowed a fastest and cheapest process
to build.
Fig 2.1 – Casa Grande ruins, Arizona, USA (Credits: Lima, 2015)
In the contemporary History, some moments of crisis (war, oil and energy crises) reduced
the rhythm of resource consumption and encouraged the use of approachable
traditional techniques and sustainable habits. The Great Depression was the second
important moment for earthen architecture development in the USA because “it
induced shortages of money and building materials, and an abundance of cheap
available labor” (Easton 2007, 15). In consequence, the “New Deal” program gave to
the people the opportunity to obtain work and dwellings. Part of it, the Homesteads
Project "would encourage basic ‘American values’ and restore dignity to the common
people” (Easton 2007, 16). Seven experimental and affordable houses, a project by
Thomas Hibben, in Gardendale (Alabama), were made in rammed earth. However, this
fact was hidden and the buildings were all plastered in case they failed (which did not
happen), and they are still inhabited today.
The ongoing wave, specially stronger after the 2008 economic crash, is based on
the global sustainability tendency and the attempt to save resources. In Portugal,
because of its late industrialization, rammed earth stayed in use until the middle of 20th
century but diminishing along with the introduction of concrete and other new materials
(Fig.2). The technique was reintroduced between the 1980’s and 1990’s “led by
architects but rooted in traditional knowledge of the old masters ‘taipeiros” (Marques et
al. 2014, 3), with no role performed by governmental or public initiative. Paradoxically, in
both countries the most common contemporary rammed earth clients are most of the
time from a wealthy upper class “in the context of an eco-friendly trend, being a life
choice (...) or a high standard tourism investment, which requires technical expertise”
(Marques et al. 2014, 5).
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Fig. 2.2 – Traditional technique, Aljezur, Portugal (Credits: Marques, 2014)
Common countries used earthen construction

One of the largest differences between Portugal and the USA is related to building
codes applied to earthen construction. While in Portugal still is a lack of specific
regulations for earthen construction and its feasibility has to be totally assumed by
engineers’ and architects’ experience; in the USA, beyond the technical responsibility,
fragmented references from individual state codes can be found in the current
International Building Code. This fact does not help to achieve consistency in earthen
practices, since there are substantial differences, for instance, between Arizona, New
Mexico, Texas and California, which are not about their specific issues, such as
earthquakes, but have to do with each State, its economic and cultural context. In order
to help owner builders, New Mexico Building Code includes tables with wall ratios and
drawing details, making it more prescriptive and supportive of a cultural identity,
compared with Pima County. Tucson has a different business approach, following the
legal procedures like other construction types. And California has even more regulations,
with the result that almost only the wealthy people can afford rammed earth, “In
California there is a political and a structural major battle all the time. To get a permit
there, it can take years!"3. More restrictive codes end up demanding steel reinforcement
in rammed earth load bearing walls and concrete bond beam, instead of the traditional
wood bond beam, more flexible in earthquakes. However, placing reinforcement in
rammed earth walls is somewhat problematic because "rammed earth cannot be
vertically reinforced with steel reinforcing bars like concrete block, it remains vulnerable
to earthquakes” (Vint 2005, 91). Simultaneously, cement plasters or stucco are required
on new constructions, prohibiting exposed unstabilized walls, regardless all the bad
examples in the past, where rigid and low permeability performance of the plasters lead
to the degradation of the core earth wall.
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Context and typology

The use of earthen materials has always been driven by at least two major reasons:
cultural and economic, to which we can today add an increasing ecological concern.
These greater motivations to chose earth as a building material are based on several
factors to take into account such as weather conditions, location and site topography
(Fig.3), availability of soil and its characteristics, typology and program requirements,
project design and availability of expertise hand labor and/or guidance.
Fig. 2.3 – Troviscais House, Odemira, Portugal (Credits: Marques, 2014)
In both Southwest regions of Portugal and of the USA, rammed earth seems to be the
most used earthen technique nowadays and not only climatic reasons explain this major
presence of rammed earth since there are so many cases attesting its use in cold and
humid climates (North of America and Europe). In the USA it is possible to find several
rammed earth building typologies, driven by economical and social circumstances:
owner-builder housing (if allowed by regulations), low-cost dwellings sometimes related
to educational official programs and hands-on experience workshops organized by
nonprofit associations, urban landscape (public art or lot walls), luxurious houses and
private/public equipment (Fig.4). On the other side, in Portugal, due to its context, there
are more private housing or touristic initiatives (new or restoration), along with some
educational programs and recent public art works that used rammed earth as a
manifesto (Fig.5).
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Fig. 2.4 – Low Compound House, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Fig. 2.5 – MUD, Viseu- Portugal, 2015 (Credits: NunoVasconcelos, 2015)
Until now, there were very few programs on both sides of the Atlantic for
apprenticeship, perhaps due to a lack of interest and disclosure. These programs do not
open regularly and cover a small community of recipients, being its long-term
continuation not assured, neither the monitoring of the building’s life cycle (Fig.6). The
major educational and official projects in the USA aimed to support local communities
with low cost housing and equipment or historical preservation programs. They are
specially driven by the University of Arizona, University of New Mexico with YCC - Youth
Conservation Corps Program, Northern New Mexico College and Cornerstones
Community partnerships. In Portugal in the 1990’s, in one of the rare public equipment
projects made in rammed earth, São Luís Market, in Odemira, there was the opportunity
to train some students in earth building construction. Recently there has been some
positive development in the educational area, since the country is now part of an
European project (PIRATE - Provides Instruction and Resources for Assessment and
Training in Earth building) that aims “to establish the new standards of competence
needed by the growing market of sustainable building with earth material” (Pirate 2012).
Fig. 2.6 – Rammed earth wall by students with Mike Sims (Credits: Lima, 2015)
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Design and function

The new rammed earth systems are being used in the contemporary architecture,
with strong authorship features, since there are no limits to build with. These solutions allow
a wider freedom in creating walls with aesthetic value comparable to a fine art object:
“blurred boundaries - earthen walls and a glass, all reaching to the sky” (Holl and
Pallasmaa 2002, 117). The constructive value of the wall is reduced for a creative will of
free sculpture shape (Fig.8). However, without a modular pattern, a more complex wall
design, sinuous and with exceptional dimensions, will increase costs and hamper level of
execution. In the USA, rammed earth load bearing walls are frequently on a range of 18
inches (45,72 cm) to 2 feet (61 cm) thick, providing great thermal mass. Due to its
structural limitations, buildings have usually one floor with “a maximum wall thickness-to-
height ratio of 1:10, adequate cross-walls, and continuous bond beam is needed to
provide adequate resistance to lateral forces” (Vint 2005, 91). Openings vary from simple
and defined windows in the Portuguese case, to the large glass panels in the North
American case. Framing can be completely omitted allowing glass panels to sit in the
opening, sealing the joints with elastomeric putty. As thermal advantages are not the
determinant reason for choosing rammed earth, a large amount of glass surface in the
facade (with a lower R-value for thermal insulation and naturally facing South) gives the
panoramic views. Windows can be very traditional though, with metal or plain wood
frames laid on sandstone or concrete sills (sometimes coming from the stem wall).
According to the North American regulations openings in stabilized rammed earth walls,
when they have “less than twenty-four inches in width shall not require a lintel or semi-
circular arched opening” (CID-RLD - New Mexico Code 2009, art.14.7.4.18). Lintels can
be in wood or steel plate, with the last one observing the aesthetics of minimal design
(Fig.9).
Fig. 3.1 – Outpost House, Paradise Valley, Arizona, USA (Credits: Eddie Jones)
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Fig. 3.2 – La Tierra Nueva Residence, New Mexico, USA (Credits: Graham Hogan)
The North American roof system is in general a light system of corrugated metal
over insulation panels and wood trusses supported by concrete bond beams at the top
of the rammed earth bearing walls. In traditional buildings, these roofs have enough
overhangs to protect the walls from the rain. Recently there are many examples where
rammed earth is exposed with just a metal flashing or concrete cap at the top, reducing
at maximum the concept of volumes, with linear edges for transition of materials and
plans (Fig.10). However it is visible, for instance in the office of the architect Rick Joy (a
set of separated volumes, built in 1995-1998), how design and perhaps the type of soil
determined the decay of the walls. On his following project, the 2004 Tucson Mountain
House, Rick Joy invested in visible overhangs over the earthen walls and assumed the
expression of the footer in concrete to step up the bearing value of the rammed earth
wall. The footer reminds us the traditional stone base, protection from the water and other
biological presence. In these cases, as in others in the vast North American production,
the transition between the stem and the rammed wall is often highlighted with an indent.
Fig. 3.3 – PERA Building, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (Credits: Lima, 2015)
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In Portugal, rammed earth walls were traditionally hidden from exterior with a thick
layer of plaster, as a finishing protection from weathering. This type of finishing is still in use,
but recent buildings are exposing earth on the entire surface of the walls, for aesthetic
reasons, using lime or cement for compound stabilization. According to Peter Walker, the
compound for rammed earth should have an ideal percentage between 45 to 80% of
sand, 10 to 30% of silts and 5 to 20% of clay (Ponte 2012, 127). The portion of clay may
vary depending on the cement content if the compound is stabilized. The traditional
North American mixture of soil has approximately 10% clay, with medium and sharp
aggregates, stabilized with 6% to 10% of cement, which allows totally exposed walls. In
order to get a painting effect on the wall with a high quality finish, formworks are carefully
planned in an extremely time consuming process and every lift with 4 to 8 inches for
ramming is designed to incorporate most of the time natural pigments. As a highly
efficient solution to deal with extreme temperatures, some walls have insulation panels in
between two rammed earth panels, or in other cases they have the insulation panels on
one side, which is then covered by a final plaster. Whatever is the final coat, or
intermediate solution to comply with comfort standards, rammed earth inspires
architect’s desire to minimal and pristine shapes as if only the walls texture could fill the
space.
Constructive methods and techniques
Soil identification and preliminary soil site tests
Generally a series of field tests should be conducted using a sample from the site taken
from a depth of 0.5 meter, to ensure that the surface organic materials are not included.
Three simple site tests can be done explained below.
The drop test
A handful of un-sieved soil was taken, moisten and made into a ball, which was held in
hand and left to dry for a few minutes before dropping it. If the ball is broken into a few
lumps that is an indication of a good mix.
The Roll test
Although the drop test applied indicated that the soil dug from the site is suitable, it was
important to apply another simple test to double check the suitabil-ity of the soil in the
building process. So a lump of moist soil was taken and rolled by hand to form a ci-gar-
like roll, which was almost 20 cm in length and 2.5 cm in diameter. The roll was placed on
a table and pushed gently over the edge, and the length of the broken part was
measured to indicate the amount of clay within the soil. The roll broke almost at half the
length, as usually if the broken part is less than 8 cm then this indicates that there is no
enough clay and also if the broken part is longer than 12 cm, then this means that there
is too much clay.
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The jar test “Particle size test”
In order to know the proportions of different particle sizes of the soil, the jar test could be
used. That is to get a preliminary assessment of the ratio of coarse to fine particles in the
soil. Two thirds of a bottle was filled by soil taken from the site, and water was added to
fill the bottle. The bottle is shaken till all the soil particles are suspended then it is left to
settle for a few hours. As the water cleared, you can see the formation of different soil
layers separated by clearly visible lines. The sand layer normally settle at the bottom as its
particles are heavier, then layers of silt and clay stays on top.
Soil mixing
As it is the normal scenario with earth buildings the secrete recipe is not known yet. The
mix depends on the type of the soil available on site. So the experience plays an
important role in reaching a proper mix and following the famous saying -Grandma know
how to make pizza-.
Mixing is the most essential operation to ensure homogeneity of the soil used. After the
thorough dry mix process (using drum mixture) water was added gradually. The mixture
had to be turned over while water is sprinkled to ensure that all the particles will be
moistened. The amount of water added to the soil is very important, because if the
mixture contains little water the soil will not be properly squeezed, and with too much
water the soil becomes too wet and water will resist compaction. Generally speaking
water forms 10%-15% of the mixture, and the mixture should look quite dry after adding it.
The drop test gave an indication of the amount of water needed to achieve plasticity,
but the site conditions also had an effect, as water evaporates while mixing specially in
hot weather.
Fig. 4.1 – PERA Building, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (Credits: Lima, 2015)
To attain optimum results it is advised undertaking soil screening, crushing and mixing as
a one continuous process. It is important primarily to ensure an even dispersal of moisture
content within the soil mix. Rotating-drum can be used to achieve uniform mix on site.
Rotating-drum type mortar mixers work adequately when the soil is high in sand and
gravel content but in general this is a slow procedure.
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In summary soils suitable for rammed earth construction are broad. The soil mix should
include sands with sufficient clay and silt, clayey silts, clayey gravels and gravel-sand-
clay mixtures. Though soil suitability guidance is helpful it is also very general and therefore
vague. Soil suitability test is as a must (shrinkage, strength, erosion resistance) of individual
soil samples.
Foundations
Foundation design for rammed earth buildings is very similar to that for low rise buildings.
Concrete strip footing are the most common types of footings. The size of footings
depends on the type of the supported structure and the soil bearing capacity
underneath the foundation. It is important that foundation is of sufficient depth to avoid
frost underneath and footings should be well protected from water infiltration. The ground
immediately adjacent to the base of a rammed earth wall should be well drained. Also
extended eaves and raised footings protect walls from rainfall. Generally the installation
of surface and underwater drains and damp-proof courses are considered essentials. We
used bitumen sheets for water insulation.
Formwork
Formwork in rammed earth construction is used as a temporary support during soil

compaction. Formwork can range from simple to complicated systems and you can use
plywood or steel ones. Like concrete formwork it is required to have sufficient strength,
stiffness and stability to resist pressures it is subjected to during assembly, pouring the soil
mix, and dismantling. However, unlike concrete, rammed earth formwork can be
removed after compaction, enabling much faster re-use efficient organization of
formwork is essential to efficient rammed earth construction. Martin Rauch, has
commented that typically 50% of his site time is spent erecting, aligning, checking,
stripping, cleaning, moving and storing formwork (Boltshauser & Rauch, 2011).
When making a choice of formwork the following general criteria should be kept in mind:
- Strength and stiffness of the formwork to be able to withstand the outward pressure of
earth mix and to maintain the form without excessive distortion during ramming.
- Durability, adaptability for appropriate maintenance as forms must be able to meet the
expected number of uses under normal site.
- Formwork must not be too heavy or bulky in order to avoid making assembly and
disassembly difficult and time-consuming.
- Formwork should contain smooth horizontal and vertical holes for bolts and ties to allow
easy and consistent horizontal and vertical alignment.
Any formwork system should contain
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- Shutters from both sides of the form.
- Ties and bolts.
- Props or stays- the (fixed or movable) vertical posts used to brace the form.
- Wedges for adjustment of the formwork.
Ramming
The mixed moist soil was poured in the formwork creating a uniform level of almost 15 cm,
which after ramming was compressed to 10 cm. As soon as the first layer was rammed
properly another was poured to be rammed, and so on. Both electric and hand metal
rammers were used to ram the soil. The metal were composed of a steel rod with a flat
steel plate, the weight of the rammers and the size of the plates differs to suit the purpose
for example to ram the corners.
A layer was considered to be properly rammed as soon as an echoing sound was heard
from the rammers, an indication of the compactness of that layer. The width of the
formwork enabled users to stand inside it and ram, an advantage that ensured that all
the corners and the edges were rammed properly.
Inserting electricity conduits
It was important to insert electricity pipes and boxes for electricity sockets in their exact
place while ramming. This would save a lot of effort in trying to chisel the walls after drying
to place the pipes and then repair them. Placing these pipes proved to the participants
that rammed earth is a building tech-nique that is appropriate and suitable to
contempo-rary needs.
Dismantling the formwork
The formwork was left for one day and then the met-al bolts were removed slowly and
the plywood was slid upwards slightly before being removed from the wall. The process
had to be done slowly and gently so that earth does not stick to the formwork and
damage the surface. The wall was covered by plastic sheets to protect it from direct
sunshine. After one or two days, and depending on the weather conditions, the rammed
wall would be dry enough to carry the formwork, and work can be proceeded vertically.
Plastering, rendering and re-touch
One of the advantages of using smooth formwork is to achieve a smooth fair-faced

surfaces. Rammed earth walls do not need plastering, it is advisable to sponge the
surface with a moist towel immediately after dismantling the formwork. In case there were
any small holes in the walls, they can be filled by hand from the same soil mixture.
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A number of materials used to render the walls, such as clay and lime. Also casein protein
was used which is a natural materials that are dissolved in water and is easily applied to
the walls using brushes or sponges.
Rainfall erosion lines
Erosion breaks can be made in different ways. The main purpose is to protect the
rammed earth walls form heavy and continuous rains. The mix is 4 gravel sand and 1/2
eco cement bag and you can add one spoon of colour power. Erosion line can be every
second or third layer.
Shrinkage
Rammed earth as all earth building materials containing clay, swell on contact with
water and shrink on drying. Only with tests you can predict the percentage of shrinkage.
The range of acceptable shrinkage percentage differs from one building code to
another and the range is from 0.05% till 3 %. Regardless of any code requirements, the
shrinkage characteristics of a soil should be examined and incorporated into the design
to satisfy the serviceability requirement of the structure.
Color lines
Every third or fourth layer you can add a color line for decoration. One spoon of color
power is added to the mix. Add the colored layer in the edge of the wall then pour the
normal mixture on top and ram.
Openings
Arched and flat openings can be made by using block-out forms or using structural lintels
inserted inside the wall formwork are an effective means of providing openings over
modest spans up to 1.5 m. Lintels can be formed from wood, concrete, steel (T or angle
section) and stone. Lintels require adequate bedding length to avoid bearing problems
and preferred spans not to exceed 3 M.
Roof support
For loadbearing rammed earth structure, lightweight timber are most widely used for
typical floor ceilings and for roofs. Also load-bearing self-supported earth vaults and
domes can be used. In the absence of a wall plate the roof may be tied down directly
to the wall with ties (usually metallic), embedded within the wall. In this workshop we used
metal sheets as a shed to protect the upper surface of the wall.
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A case study on a rammed earth building
Desert Creek House
Basically rammed earth building does not necessitate any special materials or tools
except what can be found in nature. It is in this sense very independent from economic
circuits of exchange; it escapes the laws of market. Therefore it is easily accessible poorer
countries or for people who do not have access to cash or would not normally have
enough money to invest into building. Yet in this way of building the price of materials is
replaced by an important quantity of work that has to be supplied in order to transform
natural material into a building on the building site itself.
The techniques that are described below can be simplified to an extreme where almost
no tool or bought material are used. This means that they become completely free from
market pressure and necessity for accessing money. Yet accessories like ready made
formwork sheets or bars and nuts for assembling them, or even a small winch for lifting,
make the process much easier and efficient. It is an advantage of this kind of building
mode that the process can progressively become more elaborated while introducing
step by step, when one can afford it, simple powered tools or industrial accessories which
will simplify considerably the process. All degrees of technical complexity are possible
and depend mainly on the availability of technical and financial means and cheap
work rather than on an absolute necessity. One imagines even a small corporation
starting to propose simple services which would rely mainly on work and very few or even
no accessories and machines, and with the time develop into a corporation with its own
tools and accessories of which a part can be bought progressively on the market, or at
least, like a simple crane, built by the person in charge.
In our western culture, we are very much oriented towards efficiency; it means that we
are oriented towards quick results more than towards harmonious processes. Building in
rammed earth is a process which has to adapt to many factors: weather, quality of the
soil available, nature and dependability of tools, generosity of co-workers into effort etc.
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It is important to accept this challenge because this acceptance and spirit of adaptation
will make the process more harmonious and more in tune with the environment,
especially if simple means are implemented in order to make the process more
accessible for people without or with reduced access to cash flow.
THE TECHNIQUE OF RAMMED EARTH BUILDING
A) The soil
The choice for rammed earth has only a sense if the soil is taken locally, on the building
site itself or nearby. If it is not suitable, some complementary soil (for instance clay if it is
too sandy, or sand if it is too clayey) has to be brought in, and the more transport is
involved, the more it defies the purpose of using rammed earth, which has to be
ecological and in harmony with nature.
It is best to use the soil provided by the excavation for footings and basement, after
removing the top soil which is never adequate for rammed earth building because it is
too spongy. It is better to pile up the soil into high and dense heaps, and not to spread it
too much, as the peripheral soil will be lost when it gets mixed with grass, top soil or other
impurities. The more compact the heap is, the better it is protected from external
influences. It is also important to protect it from rain, especially in the month before it will
be used, because the soil must remain pretty dry in order to be rammed. If it is too wet,
In order to know whether the soil is good for ramming, the granularity must be examined.
The best suitable soil is composed of different sizes of granularity that allow the bigger
pieces to be locked into each other and the finer material to serve as a kind of glue or
dense filling between the bigger pieces.
B) The mixing process
It is good to add some cement in order to make the material more compact and more
resistant to water. The consistency of cement will slightly correct the curve of
sedimentation we described before. It will better fill the remaining gaps between the
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grains of natural soil and it will also consolidate the structure by its own chemical reaction
with the humidity that is contained in the mix.
It is better to use off-white cement because it does not change too much the original
colour of the soil and does not introduce a grey tone that would take away the shininess
of the natural colour and light.
The proportion of cement will vary according to the quality of the soil. A good soil can
even be rammed without any cement if the walls are completely and well protected
from rain. Yet it is not advised a very small proportion of cement (1 or 2%) will considerably
improve the resistance, especially to water penetration.
The use of machinery for the delivery of soil to the mixing place makes it very easy. It
allows to dig easily into the heap which has probably already well compacted since it
was constituted, because a long building process has generally to take place between
the time where footings are dug out - it means when the soil is heaped up - and when
the ramming process starts.
For mixing we used a very small cultivator. Stevie is certainly not powerful but it is an
excellent help for mixing soil that has already been made loose by the transport and by
the effect of dropping it at the mixing place. The best way seems to create a pretty
regular layer of about 40cm of soil on a surface of about 3 or 4m2 and to spread the
cement on top of it, also in a very regular way, especially in proportion with the quantity
of soil on which it is thrown. Then the mixing process is easy because the proportion is
almost approximately correct. The process of mixing has to last as long as the colour is
not unified and as long the whole depth of the layer has not been mixed properly.
Page | 18
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The quantity of the mix must not be excessive, especially if the mixing is done with simple
tools. Humidity control comes at the end of the mixing process as it has already been
explained about the control of humidity of soil. It is good to use a garden hose with a
spray in order to avoid concentrations of water and to mix it well with the cultivator. After
the mixing the cultivator must be cleaned as water and cement have the tendency to
accumulate on its wings and make it heavy and inefficient.
It is evident that the cultivator is not a necessity, because the mixing can also be done
by hand, but such a small machine saves a lot of effort as it remains minimal for an
optimal effectiveness.C) The transport and lifting
Transport and lifting constitute certainly the main problem of the whole process and, if it
is not solved properly, a lot of human energy and physical effort will be necessary to
transport the soil into the formwork, at a usual height of some first 1m than later 2m or
even 3m or more.
1) The wheelbarrow
We thought it would be good to use the wheelbarrow as our main tool for transport
because it contains ergonomically the ideal quantity of soil one can easily support and
push without too much effort and it is also the right quantity to create one layer of soil to
be rammed: about 0.1 m3 of lose mix (i.e. the contain of a wheelbarrow) will create a
layer of some 15cm of lose soil in the box (around 10cm after compacting), if the wall is
about 35cm thick and 2m long.
2) The wheelbarrow lift or crane
It had to be very simple and produced with natural materials, excluding in this way steel.
The crane is composed of two main parts: on one hand a pair of static vertical rails, solidly
assembled together, and stabilised by the structure of the building itself, and on the other
hand a chariot which has to run up and down, lifting the wheelbarrow.
3) The weight
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Our system was a bit too weak; it would have been preferable to use stronger wheels
(diam. 125mm rated 100kg each, instead of diam. 100 rated 65kg each). Indeed if the
weight of a full wheelbarrow is estimated 120kg and the weight of the worker 80kg, it
creates a moment of about 210mkg, which means an average load of 180kg for each
pair of wheels, i.e. an average of 90kg each.
4) The erection of the crane
It was important to build the crane as light as possible - i.e. not excessively strong but only
what was needed - because it had to be moved constantly and re-erected for each
new wall. We moved it from one place to the next in its horizontal position. As minimal
device for the transport, we used a two-wheel hand truck on which the bottom part of
the crane laid with the chariot and its platform, while two people held the top part of the
crane and drove the whole lot to the right place.
5) The stabilisation of the crane
D) The walls and the structure
Rammed earth walls can easily be weight bearing, even on a few storeys (see in Sanaa,
Yemen!) if they are thick and stable enough. In some case, it has chosen to have a
wooden weight bearing structure made out of posts, beams, joists and rafters, which
support the weight of the whole construction. This means that the rammed earth walls
are not weight bearing but only walls that close the space between the posts. Although
they are not weight bearing, all walls fulfil nevertheless their role of bracing of the post-
beam construction.
In our case, one part of the building is on two storeys (ground floor and first floor); the
walls of the upper storey will be made out of a light wooden structure and wood
cladding, between the main posts of the construction. The rammed earth walls are only
on ground floor level, in order to bring the necessary thermal mass where it is reasonable
(not a disproportionate effort) to build heavy walls. This option allowed us to build the roof
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of the upper storey sooner and hence to offer a protection to the walls against the rain,
even before they were built, especially because of the generous eaves. On the other
hand, for the front part of the building, which is on one single level with ground floor only,
the roof structure was not immediately covered but ready to receive the roof as soon the
rammed earth would be built, with the exception of a few rafters missing because the
crane had to stand and go through the roof, in front of each wall to be rammed, in order
to allow the soil to be poured from above to the top of the wall.
The fact we had a wooden bearing structure has been an important help because it
allowed us to simply fix the formwork of the walls to the existing structure (mainly the
posts). we dissociated the walls from any openings like doors or windows; this means that
each wall is a simple rectangle without any hole in it. It makes the ramming much easier
as there is no window and no door to frame into the formwork, and no frame that comes
in conflict with the ramming. It is indeed impossible to ram below an opening, it means
that the opening’s frame must be therefore added when the wall has been rammed to
the level of the window sill, which is very difficult without removing the whole formwork or
decomposing it in many parts. It makes the process much easier if all the openings are,
like in our case, beside the walls, situated in gaps between the walls and the posts, or
between the walls, the smaller windows having their bottom part as a wooden cladding
as well as the part above.
E) The base of the walls
As rammed earth is a material that does not like water, it is important to create a base
for the walls that protects them from possible inundation (external floods or washing
machine incident). One layer of small brick (around 7 cm high) will do the job. As the wall
is usually 35 or 40 cm thick, it is easy to lay one layer of bricks on each side and to pour
concrete in-between. One can use this opportunity to lay electric conduits in the
concrete and to prepare the necessary place for power points. The bricks look like a kind
of kickboard in which all the necessary power points can be placed. Electric switches
and other power points at more accessible height can also be fixed on the end walls. It
is favourable not to have conduits hanging free in the formwork because they will be in
conflict with the rammer and risk to be broken or torn. It is important to fix them well; the
option to cover them with concrete between the 2 rows of bricks of the base offers
excellent protection.
Page | 21
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On top of the bricks and concrete, it is necessary to have a good protection against
raising humidity in the form of a sheet of waterproof material like Alcor. This will also work
as a barrier against termites.
F) The formwork
This is probably the main challenge of the whole process, because it is important that the
formwork is easy to handle and to put up, strong enough to resist the pressure of ramming,
big enough to avoid too many set up for the same wall.
1) Simplified description
We used plywood sheet (20 mm thick, 1.2 x 2.4m) held by whalers; long boards of Oregon
wood or hard wood (20-25cm wide x 50mm thick). The whalers run horizontally in pairs on
each side of the box and each pair is held together by brackets, bars and nuts. Unless
there is a special reason, the sheets are used horizontally. If the wall is less than 2.2m long,
one pair of 2.4m long sheets is enough for the total length. The bars can go through the
box at both extremities of the sheets without going through the wall itself but remaining
outside the wall, just at the edge. Once the first level of the box (between the base and
the top of the sheets) has been properly rammed, a second pair of sheets has to be put
up on top of the precedents on which they sit, with the same system of bars and whalers
to hold them together. This continues to the top of the wall. The horizontal joints between
the successive sheets will remain slightly visible on the wall, once the formwork is removed.
Once the whole wall has been rammed to the top, the whalers and sheets can be
removed the next day.
If the wall is longer than 2.2m, 2 pairs of sheet must be assembled side by side, and the
whalers must be long enough to cover the whole length. In this case, a slight vertical joint
will remain visible on the wall, corresponding to the joint between the two pairs of sheets.
Complementary bars are necessary which have to go through the wall itself in the middle
part. They are installed through a conduit (with a cone at each end) that will allow the
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bar to be removed, after ramming, and this conduit will later remain in the wall. The holes
in the wall, where the bars went through, have then to be plugged with rammed earth.
2) Whalers, brackets, bars, conduits and nuts
As the drilling of holes and the assembling of sheets depend on the type of bars which
are used and on the way the whalers hold the sheets together, it is better to start by
describing the system of whalers, brackets, bars and nuts.
The whalers are long boards which are installed by pairs, on each side of and against the
formwork. Their role is to hold the sheets, to prevent them from bulging and to maintain
so a constant distance between them. Their width is therefore determinant as it is what
gives the strength to the system. Our whalers were 24 cm wide and 5 cm thick. If whalers
are narrower, more bars must be installed in the length of the wall, because the span
between two bars must be reduced as the whalers will be weaker to resist the side effort.
The bars we used were special bars made for formwork. They are called z-bars; they look
very much like reinforcement rods but they are made with a thick thread in spiral around
them which allows to screw on them the special nuts which go with it. These nuts are
pretty bulky and have a special wing which allows to better tighten them. A 20cm long
piece of reinforcing rod is the ideal tool for tightening the nuts. A bracket in L form with a
hole has to be slid onto the bar between the nut and the whaler and allows the nut to
press on the side of the whaler when the nut is tighten. The whaler is in this way pressed
against the formwork sheet. As the whalers go by pairs, the same thing happens on the
other side; the z-bar holds in this ways the two whalers together and prevents the
formwork sheet from bulging.
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3) Formwork sheets and design
We used plywood sheet, 20mm thick. It is important to buy sheets which can be used on
both sides, it means with both smooth sides. We noticed indeed that some formwork
plywood has a kind of fine structure on the surface of one side which makes it impossible
to use on this side, because soil would stick to it; this kind of one side plywood is not well
appropriate, because it is often very suitable to be able to use the reverse side, especially
if some walls are the symmetrical images of one another; in this case the formwork can
be re-used exactly in the same setting, but symmetrically. Formwork sheets slowly wear
out, because of the inevitable impacts of the rammer on the surface of the wood which
generate some scratches and superficial damages.
It is more suitable to use the sheets in horizontal format (length horizontally and width
vertically). The height of the box (in this case 1.2m) is not excessive to allow the worker to
climb into or out of it. If the wall is not longer than 2.2m, one sheet is enough to cover the
total length and vertical joints and bars through conduits are avoided.
The thickness of the wall is an important factor. Thicker walls will provide more thermal
mass although the thicker the wall the less impact a supplementary thickness will have,
because the material on the surface of the wall will absorb first most of the impact of
temperature variations while the deeper material will play only a complementary and
secondary role when the surface material is “saturated”. It is important to be aware that
thicker walls have to be avoided inasmuch as thickness means also more material to be
prepared, transported, lifted and rammed. On the other hand walls which are not thick
enough will not only not be stable enough but also will be very difficult to ram because
the space in the box, between the two sheets, will be too narrow and it will be impossible
or difficult to stand and move in the box which should be as wide as the worker’s hips.
We experienced that a 350mm thickness is a minimum to allow the person who rams to
move without too much impediments.
4) Position of the holes and bars
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The first thing for preparing the sheets is to drill the holes for the z-bars which will support
the whalers. The holes have to be a tiny bit bigger (18 or 20mm) than the size of the z-
bars (17mm). If they are too tight, it is difficult to remove the bars.
The vertical distance between holes: The minimum space vertically between two whalers
depends on the length of the wall and on the strength of the whalers; if the wall is very
long, it is generally better to have more whalers. Yet the setting of the holes has to be
done for the most constraining case because it has to be planned for the whole process
on the building site, on all the walls, as the same formwork will be used and re-used
successively. The planning and the order in which successive walls will be rammed are
important factors which can make the process easier. Sometimes it is yet necessary to
plug the existing holes with a two component filler, in order to change partially the setting
of holes, when very different cases of formwork occur, but this is of course more work and
should be avoided if it is possible. The ideal vertical space between two whalers (from
hole to hole) is some 25 to 30cm. It means 4 to 5 whalers for the bottom sheet. The first
bottom hole must sit at the edge of the sheet, but yet leave enough space for the sheet
to cover the bottom brick by something like 2 to 5 cm. We noticed that it is preferable if
the bars in the conduits do not sit on the bricks; it makes it easier to take the bars out after
ramming, if the weight of the formwork does bear on the base. It is preferable to put
some small blocks of wood to support the sheets. With some additive packing one can
easily get the right horizontal position of the sheet, which is especially required if the first
sheet has to join with a second sheet for the same length of the wall.
The whaler on top of the bottom sheet must sit at the edge of the sheet in order to hold
the horizontal joint with the next sheet. Half of the thickness of the whaler must cover the
bottom sheet while the second half of the thickness will hold the top sheet when it will be
added later. It means that the center of the top hole must be at a distance from the side
of the sheet equal to half the thickness of the whaler (25mm) plus half the diameter of
the hole (10mm), it means 35mm in total. The same setting must be repeated for each
horizontal joint between two sheets. For the second sheet, it is not necessary to have a
hole at the bottom because the sheet will sit on the precedent one and be held by its
top whaler. The holes between the top and the bottom whalers can be distributed
regularly; it is preferable to have them on a horizontal line because it makes it easier to
add more holes in the same line later if necessary.
The horizontal distance between holes: The ideal would be to have in the whole building
only identical walls, with the same length. Yet it is rarely the case. For a single wall, the
best is to have bars which do not go through the wall but just outside, at the edge. If the
bar can run at a distance of 2 or 3 cm from the end wall, some wedges can be
hammered between the bar and the end wall and hold it during the ramming process,
because the end wall will have the tendency to bulge out under the pressure of the
rammer. It is therefore favourable to stabilise the end wall with wedges. As wall lengths
vary from one to the next, the same situation does not occur each time, and the system
has to be planned for the whole lot.
Group 5 Page | 25
planning -
Appropriate design
5) Last preparation of the formwork
When two sheets are assembled side by side, it is good to install a strap between the two
top inner bars in the middle (or any similar device), on the exterior sides of the formwork,
which will prevent the joint to widen under the pressure and vibrations of ramming.
When the sheets are in place, it is advised to oil the inside of the box to prevent the soil
from sticking to the surface of the formwork and to be ripped away when the formwork
will be removed. We used for that simple canola oil diluted with a little bit of turpentine
which makes it more fluid (1/1 or 2/1). It is better to oil the box just before ramming, and
even to oil the top part only when one is almost out of the box; if not, the trousers will just
wipe out what has been smeared on. Yet it is necessary to remember on time what we
called “peak oil”.
It is recommended to cover the joint between the whaler and the sheets at the top of
the formwork, to prevent soil from sliding between the whaler and the sheets and pushing
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the sheets towards the inside of the box; in case this would happen, the next sheet would
sit properly against the whaler while the lower one would not, forming a sharp visible joint
on the wall.
G) The ramming process
Once the problem of lifting the soil into the box has been solved, ramming appears
certainly as the main effort of the whole process. It can be done in many ways, from the
most powerful technologically assisted way to the simplest, by hand. For ramming we
used an air compressor and a rammer.
1) Simplified description of the ramming process
When the soil, already mixed with a few percents of cement, arrives in the box, it is loose
and it needs to be first spread with a shovel into the box in a regular layer and then
compacted. Soil can be rammed by vibrations or by impacts. Our air compressor and
rammer worked by impact; each impact moves the particles of soil that try to escape
the pressure into the small niches they can find. The ramming effect creates a solid
agglomerate of particles locked one into another, the finest finding some room between
the bigger. It is interesting to understand that the locking process does not happen
because of a high constant pressure but because the impact of the rammer chases the
particles into a locking position from which they cannot return when the pressure has
stopped because they remain entangled one with another. The more they are pushed,
the more they remain blocked. Depending on the quality of soil and on its granularity, an
ideal layer thickness will ensue. In our case we noticed that a layer thicker than 10 cm
after compacting was too thick and did not allow the bottom part to compact well.
Each composition of soil will reveal this ideal thickness through successive trials. In our
case, it meant that the loose layer should not have been thicker than some 18 cm, if one
assumes a compacting factor of 0.6.
2) Choice of the rammer and of the compressor
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Our two main figures of the ramming process were Mr Puffy the air compressor and
Cutesie the compressed air rammer. Cutesie is a light tool that is very well designed
because it remains simple, solid and reliable. It is important that the rammer is not too
powerful. Its weight is also important as well as the form and surface of its foot. Cutesie
weighs a little bit less than 10 kg; it is appreciable to have a light rammer because it has
to be constantly moved around, put aside when soil is delivered and carried over the
inner bars; a light weight makes it more handy yet less effective because its weight
defines also the power of its impact; Cutesie’s foot is round, 65 mm diameter; this size is
perfect because it provides a good and strong impact on a sufficient surface, yet
remains very handy; weight, power of impact, size and form of the foot are of course
narrowly linked; the foot is made out of rubber; this is ideal because it does not damage
the formwork and the round form fits into smaller corners. The height of our Cutesie was
a bit short and we had to bend slightly down which generated progressively a nasty
tension in the back. Once we had it repaired we changed the handle and made it longer
by 20 cm so we could stand straight, holding it at belly height; it was much more
comfortable.
3) More details about ramming
Ramming happens in successive stages, layer after layer. It is good to have prepared
enough soil to be able to ram a good quantity in one go without interruption; yet the
whole quantity of soil must be used if possible before 2 hours after mixing the cement.
Quantities of soil to be prepared must be adapted to the size of the box in order to be
almost totally used when one reaches the top of the box. Then another level of sheets
can be added and new soil can be mixed when the upper box is ready.
Sometimes ramming has to be interrupted before the whole wall is done and has to be
restarted the next day. This day joint will probably remain a bit more visible than the line
between two successive layers. It is advised to wet slightly the previous layer before one
restarts the next day, at a degree of humidity that is similar to the one of the soil when it
is compacted.
Group 5 Page | 28

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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

NAME OF INTERN- MULUGETA GEBRE

OVER ALL INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

 How I got in to the company

Thinking geotechnically, rammed earth can be regarded as a compacted soil, but

It is widely accepted that unsaturated soils achieve a component of strength through

THE STRENGTH OF UNSTABILISED RAMMED EARTH MATERIALS

Fig. 1.1 Particle size distribution of rammed earth mix

Fig. 1.2. Compaction curve from vibrating hammer test

Rammed earth Development

Fig. 2.2 – Traditional technique, Aljezur, Portugal (Credits: Marques, 2014)

Common countries used earthen construction

Context and typology

Fig. 2.3 – Troviscais House, Odemira, Portugal (Credits: Marques, 2014)

Fig. 2.4 – Low Compound House, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

Fig. 2.5 – MUD, Viseu- Portugal, 2015 (Credits: NunoVasconcelos, 2015)

Design and function

Constructive methods and techniques

Soil identification and preliminary soil site tests

The drop test

The Roll test

The jar test “Particle size test”

Formwork in rammed earth construction is used as a temporary support during soil

Any formwork system should contain

- Shutters from both sides of the form.

- Ties and bolts.

- Wedges for adjustment of the formwork.

Inserting electricity conduits

Dismantling the formwork

Plastering, rendering and re-touch

One of the advantages of using smooth formwork is to achieve a smooth fair-faced

Rainfall erosion lines

A case study on a rammed earth building

Desert Creek House

THE TECHNIQUE OF RAMMED EARTH BUILDING

B) The mixing process

2) The wheelbarrow lift or crane

4) The erection of the crane

5) The stabilisation of the crane

D) The walls and the structure

E) The base of the walls

2) Whalers, brackets, bars, conduits and nuts

3) Formwork sheets and design

4) Position of the holes and bars

5) Last preparation of the formwork

G) The ramming process

1) Simplified description of the ramming process

2) Choice of the rammer and of the compressor

3) More details about ramming

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