Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
over the whole wall and it stands under cover until it is dry, from three months
to a year. The shrinkage is quite considerable, about 1 cm per metre, so it could
be disastrous to render a wall before it is totally dry. Because of the long and fre-
quent intervals in the process, this building technique is seldom used nowadays,
even if there are many historic examples which prove that it is a solid and well-
tried method.
Earth loaves
This technique is a very simple earth building method brought to Europe by a
missionary who learned it in East Africa. The German school of agriculture at
Dünne further developed the method during the 1920s, and since 1949 about 350
buildings have been constructed in Germany using this technique. 'Loaves' are
formed from well-mixed earth containing a high percentage of clay. These clay
loaves measure about 12
25 cm.
The walls are built by laying the loaves on top of each other as in normal
bricklaying, as soon as they have been kneaded, at a rate of four courses each
day. They are reinforced with twigs every third course and every course in the
12
Figure 13.27: The earth loaf technique.
