First Steps Himalaya, a New Zealand based NGO, is doing an excellent job on the six-classroom school in Sindhupalchok, Nepal. There was a Spanish documentary film crew on site that interviewed me and asked for my impression of the school. I described the school “as strong as an army bunker. The massive earthbag walls could withstand grenades, rifle bullets and even a crash from a speeding vehicle”. The quality of construction is on par with Good Earth Nepal that organized my trip.
earthquake resistant
30 Earthquake Resistant Earthbag Houses in Mulabari, Nepal
I’m back home now (yeah!), but wanted to share more of what we saw while touring earthbag projects near Kathmandu. Carisimo, a German-based NGO, have built 30 earthbag houses in this village using young foreign volunteers and local families. This is the largest earthbag housing project in Nepal that we know of.
Reconstructing Steel Framed Schools in Nepal with Earthbags
Phulping, Sindhupalchok: This first of its kind school reconstruction project reuses existing steel posts, steel trusses, metal roofing, foundation, concrete slab floor, windows and doors, and integrates them with earthbag tube walls. The design is very strong because the steel frame braces the earthbag walls, and the earthbag walls and buttresses reinforce the steel posts.
The Case for Catenary Roofs
Excerpt from the “Journal of the National Institute of Building Sciences,” February 2016:
“The Swiss civil engineer and contractor Heinz Isler (1926-2009) is regarded as one of the pioneers of shell structures. He gained renown for his experimental, physical methods of form-finding and the resulting expressive shell structures produced in thin-walled concrete, and first triggered his lifelong fascination and professional work with such structures by draping a saturated bed sheet in freezing weather to form a catenary shell before inverting it. He proved that, what gravity forms when inverted, is resistant to the forces of gravity.
Gabion Band Stone Construction
Special thanks to Randolph Langenbach who sent me this information on rebuilding rural stone houses in earthquake zones with gabion bands. The basic concept uses ring beams of stones wrapped in strong mesh to tie the masonry walls together.
Earthbag Building Timelapse — Nuwakot School, Nepal
“Here is a progress time-lapse video of the Birds of Passage Shree Jana Primary School – Nuwakot built by Good Earth Nepal! We hope you enjoy, massive thank you to Good Earth Nepal for making this possible and spreading this technology throughout Nepal for a safer and more sustainable future! We couldn’t have asked for a better team of volunteers! Hand on our hearts…THANK YOU TEAM!”