The idea presented here is for Haiti and other areas susceptible to earthquakes. It’s a very simple concept, but even small steps like this one can save lives. The main idea involves reinforcing corners of earthbag buildings with plastic mesh or plastic fencing. For background information, see my previous post on Low Cost Reinforcement of … Read more
Sometimes incremental changes are the most effective. People are naturally resistant to major changes, but they’ll more readily grasp and utilize small changes. That’s the thinking behind this confined masonry/earthbag system. Confined masonry is one of the most common building systems in the world, with millions of structures built this way. Confined masonry construction consists … Read more
As you can see from the list below, earthbag building is really starting to take off in Haiti. And these are just the projects we know about. There may very well be others. I’ll edit this list as things progress. Hopefully this list will spur sharing and networking. HAITI BUILT 2010 MARCH TO SEPTEMBER: Rodney … Read more
[Most text quoted from the referenced article shown below.] Vernacular earthen houses located in seismic areas are at risk because of their inherent structural vulnerability. Adobe houses, for instance, are strong in compression but weak in tension. Earthquakes pull adobe houses apart, causing great loss of life and property. However, due to economic reasons, earth … Read more
The group at Konbit Shelter has made phenomenal progress on their triple dome in Haiti. Be sure to check out their blog for full details and, if at all possible, it would be great if you could find a way to support their project.
I just found these new videos on YouTube and know very little about them. I’m eager to learn how they propose to build the large vaults, because these are very difficult to build with earthbags. The first one is an animated video showing how to build a dome. The second video is a fly-through of … Read more