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Compressed Earth Block

Compressed Earth Block

Background:

  • The first compressed earth block press was a manual press and was developed in Colombia in 1956.
  • Bricks can be made on site using local earth with a small addition of cement or lime stabilizer.
  • The soil is highly compressed using hydraulic pressure, resulting in a very dense stabilized earth brick.

Benefits:

  • Avoids wastage with packaging (Saves landfill costs).
  • Costs 20% less than a conventional brick.
  • 80% of the cost of the bricks goes toward creating work onsite.
  • Durability - Stabilized bricks can be used as face bricks.

Technical information:

  • Building blocks made of clay soils with 3-5% of lime or cement stabilizer.
  • The mixture is then mixed with a minimal amount of water and then compressed using a Hydraulic press.
  • The bricks are then cured before use.
  • Bricks can be used for dome & vault construction (Avoiding use of conventional structural materials for roofs)
  • Attachments can be purchased to manufacture different shaped brick as well as various roof-tiles.

Company track record and examples of work:

  • Alliance Francaise Cultural Centre – Cape Town, 1997 (Project Architect for ACG Architects)
 

We offer a number of construction & info manuals on our website on natural building technologies which specifically refer to the South African context. The info manual "A LIME DUNG PLASTER RECIPE" has recently been added to the collection.   Click here for more information.

All our manuals are also now available as E-Book downloads. Click here for the E-Books.