[GSBN] Strawbale houses can fly! (and shake)

[martin hammer]

On 3/24/09 3:27 PM, "Mark Jensen" <markj at redfeather.org> wrote:

> Is this load bearing or post and beam?


Hi Mark,

Load bearing, with clay plaster shear walls reinforced with nylon fishing
net, on gravel bags encased in soil cement reinforced with the same netting.

See the organization's website www.paksbab.org for more information.  On the
"Research" page is a photo of the building unplastered and without its roof,
and a photo of the 8'x8' wall specimen that was tested in-plane last summer.
The "Projects" page show some of the buildings constructed in Pakistan to
date. 

Darcey has been working hard on the shake table test, and is about to return
to Pakistan in April.  She will get more information about the tests on the
website when she's able.  I might be able to give preliminary or anecdotal
information about Friday's test to the GSBN in the meantime.

Although the building did "fly" onto the shake table, we're certain it won't
fly off the table during the test.  We look forward to seeing it perform in
this simulated earthquake.

Martin



On Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:51 AM -0700 martin hammer wrote:


At last weekend's
CASBA conference Darcey Donovan showed a slide of the full
scale
Pakistan house specimen built at the University of Nevada, being
lifted by crane and "flying" over to the indoor shake table for testing.
 
The shake table test will occur this Friday.  We're looking forward
to what
this important test will reveal about the system being used
in Pakistan, and
SB in general.  To my knowledge it will be the first
full scale SB building
to be tested on a shake table.

Martin Hammer