[GSBN] Catalan vaults

Mon Dec 12 19:40:40 UTC 2011

The Auroville earth institute is doing an amazing work on vaults since many
years. They also provide special equipments for producing the earth blocs.

http://www.earth-auroville.com/auram_earth_equipment_introduction_en.php

Sometime ago I asked them if it was possible to use lime instead of ciment
(in the earth mix).
They gave me some ideas regarding an ideal soil.

The ratio soil/sand:**

Note that clayey soils can be used by adding some sand to it. Very clayey
ones will rather be stabilised with lime instead of cement and adding a
little sand to it. The best soils for compressed stabilised earth blocks
are sandier than clayey.****

** **

We (at Auroville) consider that the best soil for compressed stabilised
earth blocks has these proportions:****

10% Gravel (10 to 2 mm diameter)****

50% sand (2 to 0.06 mm diameter)****

15% silt (0.06 to 0.002 mm diameter)****

20% clay (below 0.002 mm diameter)****

** **

Such a soil is difficult to find as such. It should often be modified by
sieving and adding some sand if it is too clayey. If it is too sandy, no
sand should be added.****

** **

Adding sand and stabilising the soil depends on its quality. Therefore, it
is not possible to give a general recipe, as soils are as different as
human beings.****

Mr. Satprem of the Auroville Earth Institute was also contacted regarding
the use of lime as a stabilizer.  He confirmed that it is ok to use lime as
a stabilizer,as already mentioned above, mainly for soil with more clay.
For more detailed information regarding the use of lime as a
stabilizer, you can also write directly to Mr.Satprem
earthinstitute at auroville.org.in

The Auroville Earth Institute www.earth-auroville.com which has a lot of
information on earth construction.

All the best

Jorge Van Krieken
Portugal

On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 7:20 PM, John Swearingen <
john.skillfulmeans at gmail.com> wrote:

> Cratere, in Grenoble has done lots of work with blocks, and some vaults.
>
> John
>
> On Dec 12, 2011, at 11:12 AM, huffnpuff at q.com wrote:
>
> > Chris and All,
> >
> > I do remember perusing the info posted for the Catalan vaults and found
> it most interesting. About a year ago I had an opportunity to attend a
> charrette on Compressed Earth Blocks, hosted by Bernard Amadei at the U. of
> Colorado. These CEB builders were meeting to discuss similar issues that we
> SB builder types are/have experienced with acceptance, testing, codes etc.
> Two fellows of particular vision and spirit were Satprem Maini from the
> Auroville Institute, India
> http://www.earth-auroville.com/vaulted_structures_introduction_en.php and
> Jim Hallock, of icatis, USA http://www.icatis.org/, both NGO's building
> with CEB's and Vaults/domes. Both web sites are full of the work these two
> organizations have done and are eye candy for anyone interested in vaults.
> If you visit the icatis site you'll see they have teamed with George Nez
> and built at least one of his 'thin shelled latex concrete' roof systems.
> >
> > Currently our local engineer and COSBA member Ian Smith and his wife
> (both engineers) are on their honeymoon in India at the Auroville Institute
> at a workshop on vaults. That's devotion...
> >
> > Mark Schueneman
> > COSBA
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Chris Magwood" <chris at chrismagwood.ca>
> > To: "with public archives) Global Straw Building Network (private" <
> GSBN at greenbuilder.com>
> > Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 9:55:05 AM
> > Subject: [GSBN] Catalan vaults
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > The mention on this list some months back about Catalan vaults (or
> > Guastavino vaults) sparked my interest, and we've now decided to forge
> > ahead and build one as the roof for a buried, earthbag root cellar at
> > Trent University.
> >
> > Does anybody have experience building these, or know of anybody who
> > does. I'd like to try and hire in somebody to lead us in this build.
> > It's a small structure (18 x 22 ft) so it won't be a long build, but I
> > always like to have someone knowledgeable in charge when doing things I
> > haven't done before.
> >
> > The budget for the project is not high, but I would be willing to try
> > and cover travel costs, food, lodging and a bit of cash for the right
> > person.
> >
> > Let me know!
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > --
> > www.chrismagwood.ca
> > www.endeavourcentre.org
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > --
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