A reader sent us the following email about another use for sand bags. “Militaries around the world (mainly US as it has representation in nearly every continent) use sand bags to construct barriers to prevent propagation of munitions explosion. That is, large amounts of explosives are stored in large bins (the size of classrooms) made … Read more
You can still see adobe ruins scattered across the southwest. Even though the roofs have long since rotted away, the walls are still standing after decades or even 100 years or more of neglect. Clearly, adobe is pretty tough stuff, in part because clay platelets closely align themselves and bond together. It’s fairly straightforward to … Read more
From time to time we’ll post answers to readers’ questions. Q: How do earthbag structures compare to military sand bag bunkers? A: We know sand bags have been in use by the military for a very long time, possibly as long as 250 years. See Earthbag History Footnote. We also know sand bags (earthbags) are … Read more
We want to thank Doug at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/18/754890/-NFTTFill-The-Sandbags!-Edition for providing us some additional information on the history of sandbags (earthbags). Doug has kindly informed us that sandbags can be traced back almost 250 years to the Napoleonic Wars, during which time French troops were issued sandbags for use in the field. And as you can see … Read more
Steve over at Utopia Springs sent me a link about a fascinating housing idea for desert areas. These structures stay cool in the desert (in the 60’s) using just evaporative cooling. The galvanized metal roof is covered with burlap, and water flows down over the top. A small RV pump is adequate to keep the … Read more
We have added a new feature to www.earthbagbuilding.com: videos! Once we realized how many really informative and entertaining short video programs can be viewed through YouTube.com, we did a thorough scouring of related titles to select only the best for our website. While there are some videos that are merely promotional in nature, or are … Read more