Soil - Building Materials and Construction

BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION 01
BUILDINGMATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION 01 | PRESENTATION BY AR. GEEVA CHANDANA 1

UNIT 03: SOIL
Sand - properties, uses and bulking of sand. Types of soils, Soil formation, grain size
distribution, classification system. Characteristics of core, Principles of Soil
Stabilization, Types of Stabilizers, Earth techniques & types, Treatment of soil.
Mud architecture: through the ages, advantages & disadvantages, Requirements and
Types of mud wall building and surface protection. Detailing of walls, roofs, flooring and
foundations using soils (rammed earth, compressed blocks).

SOIL
A layer of natural materials on the earth’s surface
containing both organic and inorganic materials and
capable of supporting plant life.
The material covers the earth’s surface in a thin layer.
It may be covered by water, or it may be exposed to
the atmosphere.

SOIL
Soil, on the average, consists of
45% mineral,
25% water,
25% air and
5% organic matter.

SOIL
Inorganic material consists of rock slowly broken down
into small particles.
The organic material is made up of dead plants and
animals varying in stages of decay.
The percentages of the four main soil components
varies depending on the kind of vegetation, amount
of mechanical compaction, and the amount of soil
water present.

SOIL
Soil is formed very slowly.
It results from natural forces acting on the mineral and
rock portions of the earth’s surface.
The rock is slowly broken down to small particles
resulting in soil.

SOIL
There are thousands of different soils throughout the
world.
Five important factors influence the specific soil that
develops.
Parent Materials | Weathering | Organic Matter |
Topography | Time

PARENT MATERIAL
Soil parent materials are those materials underlying
the soil and from which the soil was formed.
There are five major categories of parent material:
minerals and rocks, glacial deposits, loess deposits,
alluvial and marine deposits and organic deposits.
Minerals are solid, inorganic, chemically uniform
substance occurring naturally in the earth.
Some common minerals for soil formation are
feldspar, micas, silica, iron oxides, and calcium
carbonates.

WEATHERING
When minerals are exposed to weather, they begin to
break down into smaller pieces.
This is mostly done by heating and cooling of the
minerals and rock.
Some minerals are water soluble which means they
dissolve when exposed to water.
Some rocks may contain some minerals that are water
soluble and only that part of the rock will dissolve. Ex:
some caves.

WEATHERING
When a tree or other types of plants begin growing
in the cracks of rocks, this may speed up the break
down of the rock because of the pressure the roots
may exert.
Ice can also speed up the weathering process on
rocks.
If a rock has a crack that can fill up with water, when
the water freezes, it can literally crumble the rock
into small pieces.
Rocks can also be broken down by mechanical
grinding such as wind blowing sand at high speeds or
glaciers causing rocks to grind each other.

ORGANIC MATTER
Both plants and animals help create soil.
As they die, organic matter incorporates with
weathered parent material and becomes part of the
soil.
The actions of moles, earthworms, bacteria, fungi, and
round worms mix and enrich the soil.
In most soils, the proportion of organic matter is
relatively small (2-5%).
Its importance in formation and production is much
higher than the small %.

TOPOGRAPHY
In many regions, moist, poorly drained soils are
located in low areas.
The slope or hilliness of a region can have a major
influence on the moisture and erosion of soils.
Drier, well drained soils are often found in sloping
hillsides. Erosion is often a problem here and can
lead to lose of topsoil.

TIME
It takes hundreds of years to form one inch of
soil from parent material.
Only the top few centimeters are productive in the
sense of being able to sustain plant growth.

SOIL PROFILE
Organic Layer : It consists of leaf litter and other
organic material lying on the surface of the soil.
Topsoil :This layer is usually loose and crumbly with
varying amounts of organic matter. The most
productive layer .
Subsoil: Subsoil are usually lighter in color, dense and
low in organic matter.
Transition: This layer of transition is almost completely
void of organic mater and is made up of partially
weathered parent material.
Bedrock : Below the C horizon the unweathered
bedrock will be found.

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON PARTICLE SIZE
Particle size is used because it is related to
mineralogy
e.g. very small particles usually contain clay minerals
Broad Classification
I. Coarse grained soils
II. sands, gravels - visible to naked eye
III. Fine grained soils
IV. silts, clays, organic soils

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON PARTICLE SIZE
Gravel: Small pieces of stone varying from the size of
a grain to that of an egg.
Sand: Similar small pieces of stone (usually quartz),
which are small but each grain, is visible to the eye.
Silt: The same as sand except that it is so fine that you
cannot see individual grains.
Clay: Soils that stick when wet - but very hard when
completely dry.
Organic Soil: Soil mainly composed of rotting,
decomposing organic matters such as leaves, plants
and vegetable matter. It is spongy when wet, usually
smells of decaying matter, is dark in color and
usually damp.

SOIL USABILITY
Gravel: alone is of no use for mud wall building - the tiny
lumps of stone have nothing to bind them together.
Sand: similar to gravel, it is of no use for wall making by
itself - but if mixed with clay, it is the ideal mud wall
building soil.
Silt: by itself is also no good for building walls. It will hold
together but is not strong. Furthermore, it will not compact
so it is also of no use for pressed blocks or rammed
earthwork.
Clay: can be rammed or compressed but in drying out they
often shrink. During the monsoon they get damp and
expand again and crack form.
Organic Soils: are mainly useless for wall building.

PRINCIPLES OF SOIL STABILISATION
When the available soil is not suitable
enough for construction then the soil can
be used by manipulating its composition
by adding suitable stabilizers.
Stabilizing enhances the given property of the soil type.
Increase strength.
Reduce shrinkage.
more soil properties to
Soil stabilization is defined as the alteration or preservation of one or
improve the engineering characteristics and performance of a soil.

PRINCIPLES OF SOIL STABILISATION
 A better soil resistance to erosion can be achieved in one or moreof the
following ways:
 by increasing the density of a soil;
 by adding a stabilising agent that either reacts with or cements the
soil particles together; and
 by adding a stabilising agent which acts as a waterproofingagent.
 The use of the correct stabilisation method might improve the
compressive strength of a soil by as much as 400 to 500 percent and
increase its resistance to erosion.

Most common and effective stabiliser is Soil itself.
Cement, is the best example of a modern contemporarystabiliser.
Various other indigenous stabilisers include
Straw
Plant Juices
Gum Arabic
Sugar Or Molasses
Cow Dung
Animal Urine
Tannic Acid
Oil
LOCAL STABILISERS

NEED FOR SOIL STABILIZATION
 Effective utilization of locally available soils and
other suitable stabilizing agents.
 Encouraging the use of Industrial Wastages in
building low cost construction of roads.

METHODS OF SOIL STABILIZATION
• Mechanical Stabilization
• Soil
• Soil
• Soil
Cement Stabilization
Lime Stabilization
Bitumen Stabilization
• Lime Fly ash Stabilization
• Lime Fly ash Bound Macadam

MECHANICAL STABILIZATION
• This method is suitable for low volume roads i.e. Village
roads in low rainfall areas.
• This method involves the correctly proportioning of
aggregates and soil, adequately compacted to get
mechanically stable layer
• The Basic Principles of Mechanical Stabilization are
Correct Proportioning and Effective Compaction

SOIL CEMENT STABILIZATION
• Soil Cement is an intimate mix of soil, cement and water, compacted to form a
strong base course
• Cement treated or cement modified soil refers to the compacted mix
when cement is used in small proportions to impart some strength
• Soil Cement can be used as a sub-base or base course for all types of
Pavements

SOIL LIMESTABILIZATION
• Soil- Lime has been widely used as a modifier or a binder
• Soil-Lime is used as modifier in high plasticity soils
• Soil Lime also imparts some binding action even in granular soils

•COB
•RAMMED EARTH
•ADOBE
•WATTLE AND DAUB METHOD
•CORDWOOD CONSTRUCTION
•EARTHERN BAG
•STRAW BALE
TYPES OF MUD WALL BUILDING

•With only a little water to form a very stiff mud, a large lump is roughly molded into
the shape of a huge elongated egg.
•The usual size is anything between 12 to 18-inches, (30 to 40-cm) long
and about 6-inches (15-cm) in diameter.
•A row of these cobs of mud are laid neatly side-by-side - preferably somewhat
pressed together.
•Then another row of cobs is laid on top.
•When three or four courses have been laid, one above the other, the sides are
smoothed over so that the holes and cracks disappear.
•Openings for doors, and windows are a problem, which can be
solved by using temporary vertical planks or shuttering.
•Another very simple shuttering for openings is to use empty kerosene tins.
COB

•The second method has developed from
standardize or regularize the thickness of the wall.
the cob wall so as to
•It is also an attempt to increase the strength of the wall by ramming it. It is known as the Rammed
Earth method.
•Two parallel planks are held firmly apart by metal rods and clips or bolts, or by small
crosspieces of wood.
•Stiff mud is thrown in between these two planks and rammed down with
either a wooden or metal ramrod.
•When one section is completed and hard, the two boards are moved along and the process is
repeated
•The two planks are then raised up and a second course of rammed earth is repeated over the
first.
RAMMED EARTH

•Blocks shall be kept covered with air tight polythene sheets for first 48 hrs with relative
humidity up to 100.
•Polythene sheets shall be removed after 48 hrs and the blocks shall be
kept in shaded area like having enough air circulation.
•Sprinkle water over blocks daily, as many times needed, during 28 days.
•Write date of production on block corner.
•Cover stacks top with coconut leaves or any other cover to avoid direct sunlight.
•Principle is that blocks shall not dry for 4weeks.
ADOBE

•Wattle and daub method is an old and common method of
building mud structures.
•There bamboo and cane frame structure that supports the roof.
•Mud is plastered over this mesh of bamboo cane and straws
•Due to excessive rainfall the Wattle and Daub structures gets
washed off.
•However, the mesh of cane or split bamboo remains intact and
after the heavy rain is over the mud is plastered on again.
WATTLE AND DAUB

•This method was developed from the bunkers made by the military
•The basic construction method begins by digging a trench.
•Rows of woven bags (or tubes) are filled with available inorganic
material
•After the foundation is laid, each successive layer will have one or more strands of barbed wire
placed on top.
•The weight of this earth-filled bag pushes down on the barbed wire strands, locking the bag in
place on the row below.
•The most popular type of bag is made of woven polypropylene.
•Organic/natural materials such as hemp, burlap or other natural-fiber
bags (like "gunny sacks") can be used.
EARTHBAGCONSTRUCTION

 Cordwood construction (also called "cordwood masonry," "stackwall construction" or "stackwood
construction") is a term used for a natural building method in which "cordwood" or short pieces of
debarked tree are laid up crosswise with masonry or cob mixtures to build a wall.
 mortar mix by volume of 9 parts sand: 3 sawdust: 3 builder's lime (not
cement
 The wood then needs to be transported to the building site.
 It is convenient to have the source of cordwood and construction
site nearby.
agricultural): 2 Portland
 Once a proper foundation has been poured which rises 12-24 inches
splash guard, construction of the walls can begin.
 Temporary shelters can be used to protect cordwood from rain.
 A post and beam frame supplies this shelter for subsequent
cordwood mortaring.
above ground level with a
 A cordwood house should have deep overhanging eaves of at least 12- 16 inches to keep the log
ends dry and prevent fungal growth
CORD WOOD/STONECONSTRUCTION

 Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of
straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both.
straw (commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats
 This construction method is commonly used in natural building or "green" construction projects.
 Straw bale building typically consists of stacking rows of bales (often in running-bond) on a raised footing
or foundation, with a moisture barrier or capillary break between the bales and their supporting platform.
 Bale walls can be tied together with pins of bamboo, rebar, or wood (internal to the bales or on their faces),
or with surface wire meshes, and then stuccoed or plastered, either with a cement- based mix, lime-based
formulation, or earth/clay render.
STRAW-BALE CONSTRUCTION

•COB is good for anything except height. It is particularly
good for curved or round walls.
•PISE OR RAMMED EARTH is strong and ideal for solid, squat,
single storey houses.
•ADOBE or SUN DRIED BRICKS can easily cope with two storey
houses.
•PRESSED BRICKS smooth and very strong and can build three
storey.
•WATTLE & DAUB is elegant and fine for Seismic Zones.
SYSTEMS OF BUILDING

ADVANTAGES OF MUD BRICK CONSTRUCTIONS
 Cost Savings
 Self Satisfaction
 Aesthetics
 ECO Friendliness
 Human Health

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