MODULE – 4

ALTENATIVE BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES

EFFICIENT FOUNDATIONS

The Use of stones (size stone or random rubble) is quite common in south India for foundation of
walls. The modern practices of using cement mortar makes the foundation rather expensive
traditionally, two storeyed buildings have been built on stone-in mud mortar foundation. The
stress level in the foundation is generally so low that even mud mortars should suffice. Use of
soil - cement as mortar or soil-lime-cement as mortars should prove to be a cost effective
alternative. Use of arched foundations is also a cost-effective alternative.

ALTERNATIVES FOR WALL CONSTRUCTION

TYPES OF WALLS

Construction of walls can be carried out in a number of ways. Different types of walls may also
be recognized. In one of the simplest sub-divisions one can consider walls to be
1) Load bearing
2) Non-load bearing
 Walls built of masonry or in-situ casted walls can be either load bearing or non-load bearing.
 In load bearing construction, the weight of floors and walls of upper storey’s are carried by the
walls and transferred eventually to the foundation.
 In the case of non-load bearing walls, the weights of floors and upper storey walls are carried
by columns and transferred to the soil through footings.
 Masonry walls make use of a variety of bricks or blocks (which may be called as the masonry
unit) which are usually held together with the help of a mortar.
 Bricks and stones have been known since ancient times. In recent years, new materials like
hollow or solid concrete blocks, hollow clay blocks and light weight blocks have emerged as the
other alternatives.
 A new concept of interlocking masonry units has also been discussed in recent times. It is
often claimed that such units can be used without mortar to build load bearing walls. However,
such claims have to be examined through carefully planned tests before being use for load
bearing walls. Penetration of water through gaps between blocks, inadequate elastic modulus
while resisting vertical loads are some of the problems which need to be sorted out.