Maximize strength and ductility
Enough strength
without too much concrete
Earthen walls can be reliable even if strengths are lower than concrete walls.
Structural guidelines exist for brittle unreinforced earthen walls to 0.6 g pga risk.
Reinforced, adobe, rammed earth, CEB: good strength, some ductility, wide RC footing.
Reinforced ICEB, cob: good strength, moderate ductility, narrower walls and RC footing.
Conventional earthbag: low strength, moderate ductility, gravel bag footing: stable but more deformable than unreinforced adobe.
Improved resilient contained earth (CE) earthbag: moderate strength, high ductility: interconnected embedded reinforcement with medium to strong soil increase strength and decrease deformability. Meshed, attached plaster is integral to strength.
Under construction July 2021
request info from simple_earth@yahoo.com
