Unity University

Building Materials &

construction I
Lecture III
Earth

Building materials & construction I

Earth as a building material

• Earthen material can be used as pieces of

building materials or as the main part of
the edifice by binding it with some other
building material.

• Mud as a construction material has been

extensively used since Neolithic times.

• Mud construction is mainly found in

places which are:-
- Relatively dry and
- mud abundant areas.

Building materials & construction I

Soil source

• There are many kind of soils that could be found deep in to

the earth as a result of the ever changing of the soil
formation cycle.
• The soil is collected after depth of 60cm.
• As the top layer is full of organic matter, it isn’t used.
Below there is sand and clay which are dug out in heaps.

Building materials & construction I

Soil Types
Clay ‐ It occurs plenty in nature.
‐ It is a product of chemical weathering of Igneous
rock.
‐ Clay, made wet with water posses a high degree of
firmness and plasticity. Then this plastic clay can be
molded in to desired shapes.
- Soils that stick when it is wet, but very hard when
completely dry.

Clay products which are employed in buildings

• Can be used as rammed or compressed earth building
materials.
• Tiles (Floor & roof tiles ), terra‐cotta, porcelain and
bricks.
Building materials & construction I
Soil Types
Gravel ‐ It the tiny lumps of stone have nothing to bind them together.
Sand :- small pieces of stone (usually quartz), which are small but each
grain, is visible to the eye.
• Similar to gravel, it is not used for wall making by itself, but if mixed
with clay, it is the ideal mud wall building soil.

Classification Based on chemical content

Based on source •Quartz or silica sand
•pit sand •Lime stone
•River sand
•Shell sand
•Sea sand

Building materials & construction I

Pit sand
• is a natural and coarse type of sand, extracted
by digging 2-3m underneath the ground.
• It has red-orange color due to a presence of
iron oxide around the grains.
• Consists of sharp angular shapes that are
preferred for better bondage.
• The concrete become strong because of the
angular shape of the sand.

• These sand grains are free from salts, Hence it doesn’t react with moisture
content present in the atmosphere.
• Due to its superior binding properties pit sand is used in construction.
• As mentioned above, pit sand is a coarse type of sand and this is not
recommended if the sand is more coarser than the acceptable limits.
Building materials & construction I
River sand
• It is obtained from the bank of rivers
and River beds.
• It is usually in white – grey color and
has a very fine quality.
• River sand is well graded, and it is
good for all types of concrete and
masonry works.
• The natural river sand was the cheapest
resources of sand. However, the
excessive mining of river bed to lead to
ecological imbalance.
• River sand has a silica content. Excessive presence of silica content makes the
sand useless for concrete work.
• To overcome this, the sand should be tested for silica content before using it.
• A good sand should have less than 5% of silica in it.
Building materials & construction I
M-Sand (Manufactured Sand) :-

• To meet the demand and to maintain

the ecological balance without
affecting the environment, M-sand is
manufactured.
• It is an alternative to River sand,
produced by crushing of hard granite
stone.
• The size of manufactured sand is less
than 4.75mm.
• The color of M sand is greyish-blue to
red color based on the type of rock
used in crushing.

Building materials & construction I

The quality and strength of concrete is greatly affected by the content of
admixture and granule metric characteristics.

Admixtures
• Resist good bondage of (adhesion) of particles
• Are impurities found in a volume of sand
• Decreases the strength and quality of mortar and concrete
• This are: like dust, silt, clay, organic materials (humus)

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Granule metric characteristic of sand
• The sand must consist of all the different sizes.
• Not all fine or coarse, must be combination of both because the void in
it should minimum for the production of a given dense concrete.
• Smaller the void age of sand the less cement will be required for the
production of dense concrete
• Sand is grouped according to the particle sizes
• Coarse – 5mm – 2mm
• Medium – 2 - 0.5mm
• Fine - 0.5 - 0.14mm
• Sand and mortar mix should be free from particles exceeding 10mm

Building materials & construction I

Test of purity of the sand (field test)

• Tack a sample Jar and fill the jar 5cm depth of sand
• Poured ¾ depth of water and shake for 1 minute
• For an hour allow the solution to settle
• A layer of silt greater than 3mm above the sand means that the sand is
impure and not suitable for construction. therefore should be washed
• Sand must not contain more than 5% of impurities (admixture)
• organic compounds produced organic acids that react with the Harding
cement and reduce strength of mortar and concrete.
• Other impurities like sulphurous and sulfuric compounds corrode the
concrete.

Building materials & construction I

Gravel:
• Unlike the sand it is a coarse, loose aggregate material that is formed as
result disintegration of rock.
• Geological processes is responsible for it’s shape and size.

Type of gravel
• Pit gravel
• Sea & river gravel

Pit gravel
• Contain admixtures (impurities)
• It has rough texture ,that create better bondage.

Building materials & construction I

Sea and River gravel
• It is smother and round shape
• Contains less admixture, because the water wash away the impurities.
• Flat needle shaped gravel particles are undesirable

Grain composition
• The size of the particles depend on the concrete structure dimensions.
• small void age is achieved by different sizes

Building materials & construction I

Soil Types

Silt:- the same as sand except that it is so fine that you cannot see
individual grains.
It will hold together but is not strong. Furthermore, it is not compact so
as to be used for pressed blocks or rammed earthwork.

Organic soils:- soil mainly composed of rotting, decomposing organic

matters such as leaves, plants and vegetable matter.
It is spongy when wet, usually smells of decaying matter, is darken
color and usually damp.
Are mainly useless of mud construction.

Building materials & construction I

Soil Tests (Assignment )
Field tests
 Color test
 Touch and smell test
 Biscuit test
 Hand wash test
 Cigar test
 Adhesion test
Lab tests
 Sieve test
 Sedimentation test

Building materials & construction I

Color test

 Observe the color of the soil

Interpretation
 Deep yellow, orange and red ranging to deep browns indicate iron
content which is good for mud construction.
 Greyish or dull brown, ranging to dirty white indicates more clay.
 Dull brown with slightly greenish color indicates organic soil.

Building materials & construction I

Stabilizers

 when the available soil is not suitable enough for construction the
soil can be used by manipulating its composition by adding suitable
stabilizers.
 Stabilizing enhances the given property of the soil type.
 Increase tensile & shear strength and reduce shrinkage.
 Cement is the best example of modern stabilizer.
 Various other indigenous stabilizers include:
straw, plant juices, cow dung, animal urine, oil

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Earth construction techniques
 Cob
 Rammed earth
 Adobe
 Compressed earth blocks
 Wattle and daub method

Building materials & construction I

Cob or clom

 It is good for anything except height.

 Is particularly good curved or round walls.
 Is abuilding material composed of clay, sand, straw
and water.
 It can be used to create artistic, sculptural forms.
 With only a little water to form a very stiff mud, a
large lump is roughly molded into the shape of a
huge elongated egg.

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Cob

 The usual size is between 30-40cm long and

15cm diameter.
 A row of these cobs of mud are laid neatly
side by side preferably somewhat pressed
together.
 Then another row of cobs is laid on top.
 When three or four courses have been laid,
one above the other, the sides are smoothed
over so that the holes and cracks disappear.

Building materials & construction I

Rammed earth

 It is a technique for building walls using raw

materials of earth, chalk, lime and gravel.
 It is ancient building method that has been reviving
in recent years.
 They can be labor-intensive to construct without
machinery(powered tampers).
 It involves compressing damp mixture with proper
proportions in to an extremely supported frame,
creating a solid wall.

Building materials & construction I

Rammed earth

 Two parallel planks are held firmly apart by metal

rods and clips or bolts, or by small crosspieces of
wood.
 Stiff mud is thrown in between these two planks
and rammed down with either wooden or metal
ramrod.
 When one section is completed and hard, the two
boards are moved along the process is repeated.
 The two planks are then raised up and a second
course of rammed earth is repeated over the first.

Building materials & construction I

Adobe

 Stiff Adobe is a natural building material made

from sand, clay, water and some kind of fibrous
materials (straw or manure), which the builders
shape into bricks using frames and dry in the
sun.
 In hot climates compared with wooden
building, adobe buildings offer significant
advantages due to their greater thermal mass,
but they are known to be vulnerable to earth
quick damage.

Building materials & construction I

Adobe

 The mixture is roughly half sand(50%), 1/3

clay (35%), and 1/6 straw (15%) by weight.
 Bricks are made in an open frame, 25cm by
36cm being a reasonable size, but convenient
size is acceptable.
 The mixture is molded by the frame, and then
the frame is removed quickly.
 After drying a few hours, the bricks are turned
on edge to finish drying, slow drying process
in shade reduces cracking.

Building materials & construction I

 Compressed Earth Blocks

 Compressed Earth Block often referred

simply as CEB, is a type of manufactured
construction material formed in mechanical
press.
 Earth blocks are blocks in which clay soil
is mixed with either cement or lime.
 The amounts of cement and soil needed is
determined by testing how much the soil
shrinks when dried.
 Great care must be taken to keep organic
material out of the clay soil used in the
mixture.

Building materials & construction I

Mixing the Ingredients
 Once a suitable soil has been selected, it should be screened through a wire mesh
with holes no larger than 5 mm.
 After the soil has been screened, measure out the proportions of earth, cement, and
any sand to be added.
 On a platform or other flat area, mix the ingredients thoroughly as for concrete.
 Add water slowly with a watering can until the mixture is moist but not muddy.

Building materials & construction I

Wattle and Daub

 Wattle and daub method is an old and

common method of building mud
structures.
 Mud is plastered over the mesh of wood
or bamboo cane and straws.
 Due to excessive rainfall the wattle and
daub structures gets washed off.
 To protect the wall construction from
rainwater we need to plaster it.

Building materials & construction I

Water

 Water and dampness are one of the major

problems for mud as a construction
material.
 The best way of protecting any wall from
either rain or sun is to have a good big
overhang to your roof.
 The sloping or pitched roof is better
because the walls need not to be so high
as for a flat roofed house.
 Provide trenches around the house to
receive dripping water and drain it away.

Building materials & construction I