Subject: Re: Rammed earth

From: "J. Morlan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 11 May 1996 17:12:29 -0500

[email-masked] wrote:
> 
> Has anyone read the book RAMMED EARTH HOUSE by David Easton?
> I was wondering if it was worth a read.

The book is good, but it does present rammed earth from the perspective 
of using massive forms and some heavy fossil-fuel powered equipment 
(bucket loaders, gas-powered tamping equipment, etc). Personally I like 
the idea and the aesthetics of using soil cement, but it does seem that 
you are only a few steps behind (in terms of complexity of construction 
technique) from pouring cement instead of ramming earth.

I see little written on the use of soil cement blocks - a technique that 
should be easily capable of building one or two story structures with far 
less reliance on heavy lifting equipment and processes that 
require multi-person crews.

There used to be hand-driven block presses for making soil cement blocks, 
- one was called the CINVA ram press, designed for use in non-developed 
countries where labor is plentiful and bucket loaders scarce.

Problem is, I have looked all over and cannot find a source for them, 
anywhere in the world. I do remember reading about a soil-cement block 
press similar to the CINVA ram press that could be powered by a small 
gasoline lawnmower sized engine. This supposedly increased production of 
soil cement blocks four to tenfold over pure two-man teams.

Has anyone come across good sources for building with soil cement that 
doesn't involve large crews, heavy equipment, and forms so costly to 
build that they are cost-effective only if used by professionals on 
multiple construction jobs?