Larger structures such as schools and other commercial structures in earthquake zones require strong reinforcing. Patti Stouter and I have been working on a school design for Haiti. The first earthbag school is now under construction near Leogane. Part of the design is this reinforced earthbag buttress, which will help stabilize the long walls. Complete … Read more
I am pleased to report that the Barrel’s Hope project, based in Florida, has finished their first earthbag house project in Haiti and are hard at work on the second. It is a very basic rectangular one room structure with a metal shed roof. We have been assisting them with their design choices so it … Read more
Do not zigzag barbed wire between courses of bags, because this will lessen its tensile strength. A load (stress) on the structure, such as a hurricane, earthquake or differential settling, would tend to pull the structure apart as the slack is taken out of the wire. Zigzagging the barbed wire would provide more attachment points, … Read more
I’ve seen various barbed wire dispensers being used and have wondered what design works best. I started making a dispenser for our roundhouse workshop, but gave up when things weren’t quite working out. It seems easier to move the roll of barbed wire by hand to where it’s needed instead of using a dispenser. Also, … Read more
Our earthbag design team is busy creating home and shelter designs, as well as innovative building ideas for the reconstruction effort in Haiti. (See Kelly Hart’s Alternative Bond Beam and Lintel system, for one example.) As you’re probably aware, conventional bond beams and foundations are made with reinforced concrete, but these are costly, labor intensive … Read more
There’s obviously a great deal of concern about the recent earthquake in Haiti. Disasters like this are all too common, and so we’re working hard to develop at least two low cost, easy to build earthquake-resistant earthbag house designs. We hope to be better prepared in the future with plans ‘ready to go.’ But in … Read more