Rammed Earth

Rammed earth at: Escuela de Artes Visuales de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, México.

(A) Picture showing manual ramming of earth in metallic shutters. Photo taken in Sinai, Egypt. (B) Pneumatic tamper.

Rammed earth is an ancient building method that has seen a revival in recent years. It produces noncombustible, thermally massive, strong, and durable buildings. However, walls can be labour-intensive to construct without machinery (powered tampers). Structures are susceptible to water damage if not adequately protected or maintained.

Building a rammed-earth wall involves compressing a damp mixture of earth that has suitable proportions of sand, gravel and clay (sometimes with an added stabilizer) into an externally supported frame or mould. The construction of an entire wall begins with a temporary frame (formwork).

Open Source Hardware Needs

Powered (pneumatic) tamper

Related Pages

• Lime may be used as a stabilizer, and in fact historically a lot of rammed earth construction has used lime
• Earthco Megablock - not actually rammed earth but somewhat related

Links

• Nice overview - [1]