Covering general issues of earth construction

Earth is the most common material on Earth. And strictly speaking, all construction material is derived from the earth. In fact, sand, crushed stone, cement, burned and silicate bricks, ceramic tiles and much, much more are nothing more than earth, cultivated to varying degrees by man.

Construction from the ground is understood to mean earth construction. According to the BSE, the ground (Grund from German - a base, soil) is any rock that lies mainly within the zone of weathering (including soil) and is the object of human engineering and construction activities.

In earth construction, bricks, blocks, and monolithic walls are made of ground, normally taken from under the fertile topsoil (humus).

Earth construction can be divided into three main types:

• buildings with walls arranged in the formwork, where the ground is compacted by ramming (such buildings are called rammed earth constructions or clay adobe);
• buildings from separately beat-cob stones or soil blocks prepared by compaction;
• buildings made of earth bricks made by plastic molding.

Methods of construction from soil blocks are predominantly spread abroad and in Russia, since when using soil blocks, the likelihood of cracks decreases due to the fact that before laying their dimensions and strength become more stable than when packing, when shrinkage occurs when the entire wall dries. In addition, the quality of soil blocks can always be easily checked.

Earth construction has a number of advantages, which are listed below.

• Low price. It is caused by the fact that the material is available everywhere (and under your feet, too): almost all ground, except for pure sand, is suitable for work. In the 50s, Institute of construction technology of USSR Architecture Academy pointed out that the use of soil blocks for walls of single-story buildings reduces transport costs by 3-4 times, and fuel by 10-15 times. Labor costs for material manufacture and laying it in the walls are reduced by about 1.5 times. Capital investment is required 5-10 times less compared to walls made of burned bricks.
• Fire safety. Earth buildings not only do not burn, but they become even stronger due to the fire.
• Hygiene. Earth buildings are dry and quite comfortable to live in.
• Low thermal conductivity. Earth buildings are warmer than brick ones. To maintain a normal room temperature, they require less fuel consumption than under similar conditions in stone and wooden buildings.
• Environmental safety. Use of earth for construction helps to save wood, reduce energy costs for manufacture and transportation of construction materials. The most famous building made of earth in Russia is the Priory Palace in Gatchina.