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RAMMED EARTH CONSTRUCTION

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Rammed Earth 

 

Background: 

  • Rammed earth dates back as far as 5000 BC where it was used commonly in China.  

  • Rammed earth is still a common building material in parts of North Africa, like Yemen and Morocco.  

  • This technology became very popular in parts of France in the 1700’s where it became known as  Pisé de Terre as well as in the USA in the early 1800’s. 

  • Rammed earth was widespread in Zimbabwe after the 2nd world war. 

  • In 2012 the SADC Bureau for the Harmonization of Standards adopted the Zimbabwe code for rammed earth Construction for all SADC countries. 

  • Many buildings exist nowadays in all climatic regions of the world. 

 

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Benefits:  

  • This material is very durable.  

  • Offering very good levels of thermal comfort. 

  • Materials can often be sourced from the site itself saving on transport costs.  

  • A raw off-shuttered wall gives a smooth beautiful finish itself and these days is typically left without further plastering or painting. 

 

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Technical information:  

  • A formwork is first built, usually out of wood or plywood, to act as a mould for the desired shape. 

  • A moist mixture of clay, sand & gravel is poured into the formwork in layers of 10-15cm & is compacted by ramming.  

  • Rammed earth using re-bar, wood or bamboo reinforcement can prevent failure caused by earthquakes or heavy storms. 

  • Without mechanical tools rammed earth construction can be very time consuming. 

  • This method of construction lends itself to high levels of mechanization and can be done very speedily, however it requires extensive testing at the beginning.  

 

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Company Track record/examples of work: 

  • House Klipspringer, Wild Rivers Estate, Hoedspruit, Mpumalanga, 2020-2023  

  • House Botes, Agte Paarl, Western Cape 2014. 

  • OR Tambo Narrative & Enviro Centre – Leeupan, Johannesburg, for Oddessy Architects and the Ekurhuleni Municipality, 2010 – 2012

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