Earth architecture

Advantage
disadvantage
Construction methods

Earth Architecture is a study devoted to the architectural uses of earth in shaping the
environment of humankind, a subject closely related to human ecology. Earth Architecture
includes contemporary as well as historical and vernacular examples drawn from many cultures
and periods. Structural built of earth presently house an estimated 1.5 billion people about 30
percent of the world's population (Keefe 2005). Archaeologists have found evidence of mud
brick buildings constructed as early as ten thousand years ago in the Middle East and North
Africa, where impressive buildings up to ten stories high have been recorded in an unbroken
architectural tradition that continuous today. Although creating individual earth structures is a
familiar practice in many areas of the world today, the practice of reshaping the earth to create
new human environments is little known. The current paper is a review on earth architecture
from ancient until today!

Dirt---as in clay, gravel, sand, silt, soil, loam, mud---is everywhere and it's free. The
ground we walk on and grow crops in also just happens to be the most widely used
building material on the planet. Civilizations throughout time have used it to create
stable, warm, low-impact structures. The world's first skyscrapers were built of mud
brick. Paul Revere, Chairman Mao, and Ronald Reagan all lived in earth houses at
various points in their lives, and several of the buildings housing Donald Judd's
priceless collection at the Judd Foundation in Marfa, Texas, are made of mud brick.

Currently it is estimated that one half of the world's population--approximately three

billion people on six continents--lives or works in buildings constructed of earth. And
while the vast legacy of traditional and vernacular earthen construction has been
widely discussed, little attention has been paid to the contemporary tradition of earth
architecture. Author Ronald Rael, founder of Eartharchitecture.org provides a history
of building with earth in the modern era, focusing particularly on projects constructed
in the last few decades that use rammed earth, mud brick, compressed earth, cob, and
several other interesting techniques. Earth Architecture presents a selection of more
than 40 projects that exemplify new, creative uses of the oldest building material on
the planet.
Rael's engaging narrative addresses the misconceptions associated with earth
architecture. Many assume that it's only used for housing in poor rural areas--but
there are examples of airports, embassies, hospitals, museums, and factories that are
made of earth. It's also assumed that earth is a fragile, ephemeral material, while in
reality some of the oldest extant buildings on the planet are made of earth. Rael also
touches on many topics that pervade both architecture and popular media today, such
as the ecological benefits and the politics of building with earth, particularly in
developing nations where earth buildings are often thought of as pre-modern or
backward. With engaging discussion and more than 300 images, Earth
Architectureshowcases the beauty and simplicity of one of humankind's most evolved
and sophisticated building technologies.

Ronald Rael is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at The University of California, Berkeley.

Prior to joining the faculty at Berkeley, he was he is the Co-Director of the The Charles E. Daniel
Center for Building Research and Urban Studies in Genova, Italy for 1.5 years and the
coordinator of the Core Architecture Studios at Clemson University. During this time he was also
a visiting member of the Design Faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los
Angeles and began his academic career as a Senior Instructor at the University of Colorado at
Boulder. Ronald earned his Masters of Architecture degree at Columbia University in the City of
New York where he was the recipient of the William Kinne Memorial Fellowship. He holds a
Bachelor of Environmental Design degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Earth structure
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Old adobe minaret in Kharanagh village, Iran

Earthen hut with thatched roof in Toteil, near Kassala, Sudan

An earth structure is a building or other structure made largely from soil. Since soil is a widely
available material, it has been used in construction since prehistoric times. It may be combined with
other materials, compressed and/or baked to add strength. Soil is still an economical material for
many applications, and may have low environmental impact both during and after construction.
Earth structure materials may be as simple as mud, or mud mixed with straw to make cob. Sturdy
dwellings may be also built from sod or turf. Soil may be stabilized by the addition of lime or cement,
and may be compacted into rammed earth. Construction is faster with pre-
formed adobe or mudbricks, compressed earth blocks, earthbags or fired clay bricks.[a]
Types of earth structure include earth shelters, where a dwelling is wholly or partly embedded in the
ground or encased in soil. Native American earth lodges are examples. Wattle and daub houses use
a "wattle" of poles interwoven with sticks to provide stability for mud walls. Sod houseswere built on
the northwest coast of Europe, and later by European settlers on the North American prairies. Adobe
or mud-brick buildings are built around the world and include houses, apartment buildings, mosques
and churches. Fujian Tulous are large fortified rammed earth buildings in southeastern China that
shelter as many as 80 families. Other types of earth structure include mounds and pyramids used for
religious purposes, levees, mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls, forts, trenches
and embankment dams.
 Contents

 1Soil
 2Materials
o 2.1Mud
o 2.2Cob
o 2.3Sod or turf
o 2.4Stabilized earth
o 2.5Rammed earth
o 2.6Concrete
 3Building units
o 3.1Mud brick or adobe brick
o 3.2Compressed earth block
o 3.3Earthbags
o 3.4Fired clay brick
 4Examples
o 4.1Earth sheltering
o 4.2Native American earth lodge
o 4.3Wattle and daub
o 4.4Prairie sod house
o 4.5Mud brick buildings
o 4.6Toulous
o 4.7Mounds and pyramids
o 4.8Earthworks
o 4.9Forts and trenches
o 4.10Embankment dams
 5Structural Issues
o 5.1Designing for Earthquakes
o 5.2Seismic-Resistant Construction Techniques
 6See also
 7References
o 7.1Notes
o 7.2Citations
o 7.3Sources

Soil[edit]
Soil types by clay, silt and sand composition as used by the USDA

Soil is created from rock that has been chemically or physically weathered, transported, deposited
and precipitated.[2] Soil particles include sand, silt and clay. Sand particles are the largest at 2 to 0.05
millimetres (0.0787 to 0.0020 in) in diameter and clay the smallest at less than 0.002 millimetres
(7.9×10−5 in) in diameter.[3] Both sand and silt are mostly inert rock particles,
including quartz, calcite, feldspar and mica.[4]
Clays typically are phyllosilicate minerals with a sheet-like structure.[3] The very small clay particles
interact with each other physically and chemically. Even a small proportion of clay affects the
physical properties of the soil much more than might be expected.[4] Clays such as kaolinite do not
expand or contract when wetted or dried, and are useful for brick-making. Others, such as smectites,
expand or contract considerably when wet or dry, and are not suitable for building.[3]
Loam is a mix of sand, silt and clay in which none predominates. Soils are given different names
depending on the relative proportions of sand, silt and clay such as "Silt Loam", "Clay Loam" and
"Silty Clay".[5] Loam construction, the subject of this article, referred to as adobe construction when it
uses unfired clay bricks, is an ancient building technology. It was used in the early civilizations of
the Mediterranean, Egypt and Mesopotamia, in the Indus, Ganges and Yellow river valleys,
in Central and South America. As of 2005 about 1.5 billion people lived in houses built of loam.[6][b]
In recent years, interest in loam construction has revived in the developed world. It is seen as a way
to minimize use of fossil fuels and pollution, particularly carbon dioxide, during manufacture, and to
create a comfortable living environment through the high mass and high absorption of the
material.[7] The two main technologies are stamped or rammed earth, clay or loam, called pise de
terre in French, and adobe, typically using sun-dried bricks made of a mud and straw mixture.[7][c]

Materials[edit]

Traditional round mud and thatch houses forming a family compound near Tamale, Ghana
Mud houses in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Earth usually requires some sort of processing for use in construction. It may be combined with
water to make mud, straw may be added, some form of stabilizing material such as lime or cement
may be used to harden the earth, and the earth may be compacted to increase strength.[8]
Mud[edit]
Coursed mud construction is one of the oldest approaches to building walls. Moist mud is formed by
hand to make the base of a wall, and allowed to dry. More mud is added and allowed to dry to form
successive courses until the wall is complete. With puddled mud, a hand-made mud form is filled
with wetter mud and allowed to dry.[9] In Iran, puddled mud walls are called chine construction. Each
course is about 18 to 24 inches (460 to 610 mm) thick, and about 18 to 24 inches (460 to 610 mm)
high. Typically the technique is used for garden walls but not for house construction, presumably
because of concern about the strength of walls made in this way.[10] A drawback to the approach is
that a lot of time can be spent waiting for each course to dry.[11] Another technique, used in areas
where wood is plentiful, is to build a wood frame house and to infill it with mud, primarily to provide
insulation. In parts of England a similar technique was used with cob.[9]
Cob[edit]

Cob wall in Harwell, Oxfordshire, England, hundreds of years old, thatched to protect it from water

Cob, sometimes referred to as "monolithic adobe",[12] is a natural building material made from soil
that includes clay, sand or small stones and an organic material such as straw. Cob walls are usually
built up in courses, have no mortar joints and need 30% or more clay in the soil. Cob can be used as
in-fill in post-and-beam buildings, but is often used for load bearing walls, and can bear up to two
stories. A cob wall should be at least 16 inches (410 mm) thick, and the ratio of width to height
should be no more than one to ten.[12] It will typically be plastered inside and out with a mix of lime,
soil and sand. Cob is fireproof, and its thermal mass helps stabilize indoor temperatures.[12] Tests
have shown that cob has some resistance to seismic activity. However, building codes in the
developed world may not recognize cob as an approved material.[13]
Sod or turf[edit]
Sod bricks in a house wall

Cut sod bricks, called terrone in Spanish, can be used to make tough and durable walls. The sod is
cut from soil that has a heavy mat of grass roots, which may be found in river bottom lands. It is
stood on edge to dry before being used in construction.[11] European settlers on the North American
Prairies found that the sod least likely to deteriorate due to freezing or rain came from dried
sloughs.[14] Turf was once extensively used for the walls of houses in Ireland, Scotland and Iceland,
where some turf houses may still be found. A turf house may last fifty years or longer if well-
maintained in a cold climate.[15]The Icelanders find that the best quality turf is the Strengur, the top 5
centimetres (2.0 in) of the grass turf.[16]
Stabilized earth[edit]
Clay is usually hard and strong when dry, but becomes very soft when it absorbs water. The dry clay
helps hold an earth wall together, but if the wall is directly exposed to rain, or to water leaking down
from the roof, it may become saturated and collapse.[17] Earth may be "stabilized" to make it more
weather resistant. The practice of stabilizing earth by adding burnt lime is centuries old.[18] Portland
cement or bitumen may also be added to earth intended for construction which adds strength,
although the stabilized earth is not as strong as fired clay or concrete.[18] Mixtures of cement and
lime, or pozzolana and lime, may also be used for stabilization.[19]
Preferably the sand content of the soil will be 65% – 75%. Soils with low clay content, or with no
more than 15% non-expansive clay, are suitable for stabilized earth.[20] The clay percentage may be
reduced by adding sand, if available.[21] If there is more than 15% clay it may take more than 10%
cement to stabilize the soil, which adds to the cost.[20] If earth contains little clay and holds 10% or
more cement, it is in effect concrete. Cement is not particularly environmentally friendly, since the
manufacturing process generates large amounts of carbon dioxide.[22] Low-density stabilized earth
will be porous and weak. The earth must therefore be compacted either by a machine that makes
blocks or within the wall using the "rammed earth" technique.[19]
Rammed earth[edit]

Old school built of rammed earth in 1836–37 in Bonbaden, Hesse, Germany

Rammed earth is a technique for building walls using natural raw materials such as
earth, chalk, lime or gravel. A rammed earth wall is built by placing damp soil in a temporary form.
The soil is manually or mechanically compacted and then the form is removed.[23] Rammed earth is
generally made without much water, and so does not need much time to dry as the building rises. It
is susceptible to moisture, so must be laid on a course that stops rising dampness, must be roofed
or covered to keep out water from above, and may need protection through some sort of plaster,
paint or sheathing.[22]
In China, rammed earth walls were built by the Longshan people in 2600–1900 BC, during the
period when cities first appeared in the region. Thick sloping walls made of rammed earth became a
characteristic of traditional Buddhist monasteries throughout the Himalayas and became very
common in northern Indian areas such as Sikkim.[24] The technique spread to the Middle East, and to
North Africa, and the city of Carthage was built of rammed earth. From there the technology was
brought to Europe by the Romans.[25] Rammed earth structures may be long lasting. Most of
the Great Wall of China was made from rammed earth, as was the Alhambra in the Kingdom of
Granada. In Northern Europe there are rammed earth buildings up to seven stories high and two
hundred years old.[22]
Concrete[edit]
The Romans made durable concrete strong enough for load-bearing walls.[26] Roman concrete
contains a rubble of broken bricks and rocks set in mortar. The mortar included lime and pozzolana,
a volcanic material that contributed significantly to its strength.[27] Roman concrete structures such as
the Colosseum, completed in 80 AD, still stand.[28] Their longevity may be explained by the fact that
the builders used a relatively dry mix of mortar and aggregate and compacted it by pounding it down
to eliminate air pockets.[29] Although derived from earth products, concrete structures would not
usually be considered earth structures.[1]

Building units[edit]
Mud brick or adobe brick[edit]

Adobe bricks near a construction site in Milyanfan, Kyrgyzstan

Making mudbricks near Cooktown, Australia

Main articles: Mudbrick and Adobe
Mudbricks or Adobe bricks are preformed modular masonry units of sun-dried mud that were
invented at different times in different parts of the world as civilization developed.[30] Construction with
bricks avoids the delays while each course of puddled mud dries. Wall murals show that adobe
production techniques were highly advanced in Egypt by 2500 BC.[11] Adobe construction is common
throughout much of Africa today.[31] Adobe bricks are traditionally made from sand and clay mixed
with water to a plastic consistency, with straw or grass as a binder.[32][d] The mud is prepared, placed
in wooden forms, tamped and leveled, and then turned out of the mold to dry for several days. The
bricks are then stood on end to air-cure for a month or more.[32]
In the southwest United States and Mexico adobe buildings had massive walls and were rarely more
than two stories high. Adobe mission churches were never more than about 35 feet (11 m).[33] Since
adobe surfaces are fragile, coatings are used to protect them. These coatings, periodically renewed,
have included mud plaster, lime plaster, whitewash[e] or stucco.[34] Adobe walls were historically made
by laying the bricks with mud mortar, which swells and shrinks at the same rate as the bricks when
wetted or dried, heated or cooled. Modern adobe may be stabilized with cement and bonded with
cement mortars, but cement mortars will cause unstabilized adobe bricks to deteriorate due to the
different rates of thermal expansion and contraction.[33]
Compressed earth block[edit]

Compressed earth block housing being built in Midland, Texas in 2006

Compressed earth blocks (CEB) were traditionally made by using a stick to ram soil into a wooden
mold. Today they are usually made from subsoil compressed in a hand-operated or powered
machine. In the developing world, manual machines can be a cost-effective solution for making
uniform building blocks, while the more complex and expensive motorized machines are less likely
to be appropriate. Although labor-intensive, CEB construction avoids the cost of buying and
transporting materials.[35] Block-making machines may form blocks that have interlocking shapes to
reduce the requirement for mortar. The block may have holes or grooves so rods such as bamboo
can be inserted to improve earthquake resistance.[36]
Suitable earth must be used, with enough clay to hold the block together and resist erosion, but not
too much expansive clay.[37] When the block has been made from stabilized earth, which contains
cement, the concrete must be given perhaps three weeks to cure. During this time the blocks should
be stacked and kept from drying out by sprinkling water over them. This may be a problem in hot,
dry climates where water is scarce. Closely stacking the blocks and covering them with a polythene
sheet may help reduce water loss.[38]
Earthbags[edit]
Earthbag construction is a natural building technique that has evolved from historic military
construction techniques for bunkers.[39] Local subsoil of almost any composition can be used,
although an adobe mix would be preferable. The soil is moistened so it will compact into a stable
structure when packed into woven polypropylene or burlap sacks or tubes. Plastic mesh is
sometimes used. Polypropylene (pp) sacks are most common, since they are durable when covered,
cheap, and widely available.[39] The bags are laid in courses, with barbed wire between each course
to prevent slipping. Each course is tamped after it is laid.[40] The structure in pp bags is similar to
adobe but more flexible. With mesh tubing the structure is like rammed earth.[39] Earthbags may be
used to make dome-shaped or vertical wall buildings. With soil stabilization they may also be used
for retaining walls.[41]
Fired clay brick[edit]

English bond bricks from 1454 at the Old College in Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England

The technique of firing clay bricks in a kiln dates to about 3500 BC. Fired bricks were being used to
build durable masonry across Europe, Asia and North Africa by 1200 BC and still remain an
important building material.[42] Modern fired clay bricks are formed from clays or shales, shaped and
then fired in a kiln for 8–12 hours at a temperature of 900–1150 °C.[43][f] The result is a ceramic that is
mainly composed of silica and alumina, with other ingredients such as quartz sand. The porosity of
the brick depends on the materials and on the firing temperature and duration. The bricks may vary
in color depending on the amount of iron and calcium carbonate in the materials used, and the
amount of oxygen in the kiln.[43] Bricks may decay due to crystallization of salts on the brick or in its
pores, from frost action and from acidic gases.[45]
Bricks are laid in courses bonded with mortar, a combination of Portland cement, lime and sand.[46] A
wall that is two bricks thick will include stretcher bricks with their long, narrow side exposed and
header bricks crossing from side to side. There are various brickwork "bonds", or patterns of
stretchers and headers, including the English, Dutch and Flemish bonds.[47]

Examples[edit]
Earth sheltering[edit]

Turf houses in Keldur, Iceland, an example of Earth sheltering

Earth sheltering has been used for thousands of years to make energy-efficient dwellings.[48] There
are various configurations. At one extreme, an earth sheltered dwelling is completely underground,
with perhaps an open courtyard to provide air and light. An earth house may be set into a slope, with
windows or door openings in one or more of its sides, or the building may be on ground level, but
with earth mounded against the walls, and perhaps with an earth roof.[49]
Pit houses made by Hohokam farmers between 100 and 900 AD, in what is now the southwest of
the US, were bermed structures, partially embedded in south-facing slopes. Their successful design
was used for hundreds of years.[50] At Matmata, Tunisia, most of the ancient homes were built 12
metres (39 ft) below ground level, and surrounded courtyards about 12 metres (39 ft) square.[51][g] The
homes were reached through tunnels. Other examples of subterranean, semi-subterranean or cliff-
based dwellings in both hot and cold climates are found in Turkey, northern China and the
Himalayas, and the southwest USA.[51] A number of Buddhist monasteries built from earth and other
materials into cliff sides or caves in Himalayan areas such as Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and northern
India are often perilously placed. Starting in the 1970s, interest in the technique has revived in
developed countries.[48] By setting an earth house into the ground, the house will be cooler in the
warm season and warmer in the cool season.[49]
Native American earth lodge[edit]
An earth lodge is a circular building made by some of the Native Americans of North America. They
have wood post and beam construction and are dome-shaped.[53] A typical structure would have four
or more central posts planted in the ground and connected at the top by cross beams. The smoke
hole would be left open in the center. Around the central structure there was a larger ring of shorter
posts, also connected by cross beams. Rafters radiated from the central cross beams to the outside
cross beams, and then split planks or beams formed the slanting or vertical side walls.[54] The
structure was covered by sticks and brush or grass, covered in turn by a heavy layer of earth or sod.
Some groups plastered the whole structure with mud, which dried to form a shell.[54]

School in a Maasai village on the A109 road, Kenya

Wattle and daub[edit]

Wattle and daub is an old building technique in which vines or smaller sticks are interwoven between
upright poles, and then mud mixed with straw and grass is plastered over the wall.[55] The technique
is found around the world, from the Nile Delta to Japan, where bamboo was used to make the
wattle.[56] In Cahokia, now in Illinois, USA, wattle and daub houses were built with the floor lowered
by 1 to 3 feet (0.30 to 0.91 m) below the ground. A variant of the technique is
called bajareque in Colombia.[55] In prehistoric Britain simple circular wattle and daub shelters were
built wherever adequate clay was available.[57] Wattle and daub is still found as the panels in timber-
framed buildings.[58] Generally the walls are not structural, and in interior use the technique in the
developed world was replaced by lath and plaster, and then by gypsum wallboard.[56]
Prairie sod house[edit]
Omer Madison Kem, (later, Representative to the United States Congress) in front of his sod house in
Nebraska (1886)

European pioneer farmers in the prairies of North America, where there is no wood for construction,
often made their first home in a dug-out cave in the side of a hill or ravine, with a covering over the
entrance. When they had time, they would build a sod house. The farmer would use a plow to cut
the sod into bricks 1 by 2 feet (0.30 by 0.61 m), which were then piled up to form the walls.[59] The
sod strips were piled grass-side down, staggered in the same way as brickwork, in three side-by-
side rows, resulting in a wall over 3 feet (0.91 m) thick. The sod wall was built around door and
window frames, and the corners of the wall were secured by rods driven vertically through them. The
roof was made with poles or brush, covered with prairie grass, and then sealed with a layer of
sod.[60] Sod houses were strong and often lasted many years, but they were damp and dirty unless
the interior walls were plastered.[59] The roofs tended to leak, and sometimes collapsed in a
rainstorm.[60]
Mud brick buildings[edit]
There are innumerable examples of mud brick or adobe building around the world. The walled city
of Shibam in Yemen, designated a World Heritage Site in 1982, is known fr its ten-story unreinforced
mud-brick buildings.[61] The Djinguereber Mosque of Timbuktu, Mali, was first built at the start of the
14th century AD (8th century AH) from round mud bricks and a stone-mud misture, and was rebuilt
several times afterwards, steadily growing in size.[62] Further south in Mali, the Great
Mosque of Djenné, a dramatic example of Sahel mudbrick architecture. was built in 1907, based on
the design of an earlier Great Mosque first built on the site in 1280. Mudbrick requires maintenance,
and the fundamentalist ruler Seku Amadu had let the previous mosque collapse.[63]
The Casa Grande Ruins, now a national monument in Arizona protected by a modern roof, is a
massive four-story adobe structure built by Hohokam people between 1200 and 1450 AD.[64] The first
European to record the great house was a Jesuit priest, Father Eusebio Kino, who visited the site in
1694. At that time it had long been abandoned.[65] By the time a temporary roof was installed in 1903
the adobe building had been standing empty and unmaintained for hundreds of years.[66]
Huaca de la Luna in what is now northern Peru is a large adobe temple built by the Moche people.
The building went through a series of construction phases, growing eventually to a height of about
32 metres (105 ft), with three main platforms, four plazas and many smaller rooms and enclosures.
The walls were covered by striking multi-colored murals and friezes; those visible today date from
about 400–610 AD.[67]
 

High-rise mud brick buildings in Shibam

Mud wall and mosque in Timbuktu

Old mud dwellings and modern mud mosque in Mali

 Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali, in 1972

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona

 

San Francisco de Asis Mission Church at Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico

Interior of Huaca de la Luna, Trujillo, Peru

Art on an adobe building at Shantiniketan University, Bolpur, West Bengal

Toulous[edit]

Tianluokeng Tulou cluster in Fujianprovince, China

A Fujian Tulou is a type of rural dwelling of the Hakka people in the mountainous areas in
southeastern Fujian, China.[68]They were mostly built between the 13th and the 20th centuries.[69] A
tulou is a large, enclosed and fortified earth building, rectangular or circular, with very thick load-
bearing rammed earth walls between three and five stories high. A toulou might house up to 80
families. Smaller interior buildings are often enclosed by these huge peripheral walls which can
contain halls, storehouses, wells and living areas. The structure resembles a small fortified
city.[70] The walls are formed by compacting earth mixed with stone, bamboo, wood and other readily
available materials, and are to 6 feet (1.8 m) thick. The result is a well-lit, well-ventilated, windproof
and earthquake-proof building that is warm in winter and cool in summer.[70]
Mounds and pyramids[edit]

Ziggurat at Ali Air Base in Iraq

Ziggurats were elevated temples constructed by the Sumerians between the end of the 4th
millennium BC and the 2nd millennium BC, rising in a series of terraces to a temple up to 200 feet
(61 m) above ground level. The Ziggurat of Urcontained about three million bricks, none more than
15 inches (380 mm) in length, so construction would have been a huge project.[71] The largest
ziggurat was in Babylon, and is thought by some to be the Tower of Babel mentioned in the Bible. It
was destroyed by Alexander the Great and only the foundations remain, but originally it stood 300
feet (91 m) high on a base about 660 feet (200 m) square.[72] Sun-dried bricks were used for the
interior and kiln-fired bricks for the facing. The bricks were held together by clay or bitumen.[73]
Many pre-Columbian Native American societies of ancient North America built large pyramidal earth
structures known as platform mounds. Among the largest and best-known of these structures
is Monks Mound at the site of Cahokia in what became Illinois, completed around 1100 AD, which
has a base larger than that of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Many of the mounds underwent multiple
episodes of mound construction at periodic intervals, some becoming quite large. They are believed
to have played a central role in the mound-building peoples' religious life and documented uses
include semi-public chief's house platforms, public templeplatforms, mortuary platforms, charnel
house platforms, earth lodge/town house platforms, residence platforms, square ground and rotunda
platforms, and dance platforms.[74][75]
The 207 feet (63 m) Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, was started in 100 AD. The stone-
faced structure contains two million tons of rammed earth.[25]
Earthworks[edit]

Retaining wall near Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England

Earthworks are engineering works created through moving or processing quantities of soil or
unformed rock. The material may be moved to another location and formed into a desired shape for
a purpose.[76] Levees, embankments and dams are types of earthwork. A levee, floodbank or
stopbank is an elongated natural ridge or artificially constructed dirt fill wall that regulates water
levels. It is usually earthen and often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along
low-lying coastlines.[77]
Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls may be used for embankments.[78] MSE walls
combine a concrete leveling pad, wall facing panels, coping, soil reinforcement and select
backfill.[79] A variety of designs of wall facing panels may be used.[79] After the leveling pad has been
laid and the first row of panels has been placed and braced, the first layer of earth backfill is brought
in behind the wall and compacted. The first set of reinforcements is then laid over the earth.[80] The
reinforcements, which may be tensioned polymer or galvanized metal strips or grids, are attached to
the facing panels.[81]This process is repeated with successive layers of panels, earth and
reinforcements. The panels are thus tied into the earth embankment to make a stable structure with
balanced stresses.[82]
Although construction using the basic principles of MSE has a long history, MSE was developed in
its current form in the 1960s. The reinforcing elements used can vary but
include steel and geosynthetics. The term MSE is usually used in the US to distinguish it from
"Reinforced Earth", a trade name of the Reinforced Earth Company, but elsewhere Reinforced Soil
is the generally accepted term.[78] MSE construction is relatively fast and inexpensive, and although
labor-intensive, it does not demand high levels of skill. It is therefore suitable for developing as well
as developed countries.[83]
Forts and trenches[edit]

Soldiers in a trench on Gallipoliduring World War I

Earth has been used to construct fortifications for thousands of years, including strongholds and
walls, often protected by ditches. Aerial photography in Europe has revealed traces of earth
fortifications from the Roman era, and later medieval times.[84] Offa's Dyke is a huge earthwork that
stretches along the disputed border between England and Wales.[85] Little is known about the period
or the builder, King Offa of Mercia, who died in 796 AD.[86] An early timber and earth fortification
might later be succeeded by a brick or stone structure on the same site.[87]
Trenches were used by besieging forces to approach a fortification while protected from missiles.
Sappers would build "saps", or trenches, that zig-zagged towards the fortress being attacked. They
piled the excavated dirt to make a protective wall or gabion. The combined trench depth and gabion
height might be 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3.0 m). Sometimes the sap was a tunnel, dug several feet below
the surface. Sappers were highly skilled and highly paid due to the extreme danger of their work.[88]
In the American Civil War (1861−1865) trenches were used for defensive positions throughout the
struggle, but played an increasingly important role in the campaigns of the last two years.[89] Military
earthworks perhaps culminated in the vast network of trenches built during World War I (1914−1918)
that stretched from Switzerland to the North Sea by the end of 1914.[90] The two lines of trenches
faced each other, manned by soldiers living in appalling conditions of cold, damp and
filth.[91] Conditions were worst in the Allied trenches. The Germans were more willing to accept the
trenches as long-term positions, and used concrete blocks to build secure shelters deep
underground, often with electrical lighting and heating.[92]
Embankment dams[edit]

The Mica Dam in Canada

An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement
and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or
rock. It has a semi-permanent natural waterproof covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof
core. This makes such a dam impervious to surface or seepageerosion.[93] The force of the
impoundment creates a downward thrust upon the mass of the dam, greatly increasing the weight of
the dam on its foundation. This added force effectively seals and makes waterproof the underlying
foundation of the dam, at the interface between the dam and its stream bed.[94] Such a dam is
composed of fragmented independent material particles. The friction and interaction of particles
binds the particles together into a stable mass rather than by the use of a cementing substance.[95]
The Syncrude Mildred Lake Tailings Dyke in Alberta, Canada, is an embankment dam about 18
kilometres (11 mi) long and from 40 to 88 metres (131 to 289 ft) high. By volume of fill, as of 2001 it
was believed to be the largest earth structure in the world.[96]

Structural Issues[edit]
Designing for Earthquakes[edit]
Regions with low seismic risk are safe for most earth buildings, but historic construction techniques
often cannot resist even medium earthquake levels effectively because of earthen buildings' three
highly undesirable qualities as a seismic building material: being relatively 'weak, heavy and brittle'.
However, earthen buildings can be built to resist seismic loads.[97]
Key factors to improved seismic performance are soil strength, construction quality, robust layout
and seismic reinforcement.[98]
Stronger soils make stronger walls. Adobe builders can test cured blocks for strength by dropping
from a specific height or by breaking them with a lever.[99] Builders using immediate techniques like
earthbag, cob, or rammed earth may prefer approximate crushing tests on smaller samples that can
be oven-dried and crushed under a small lever.[100]
Builders must understand construction processes and be able to produce consistent quality for
strong buildings.[101]
Robust layout means buildings more square than elongated, and symmetrical not L-shaped,[102] as
well as no 'soft' first stories (stories with large windows, buildings on unbraced columns). New
Zealand's earthen building guidelines check for enough bracing wall length in each of the two
principal directions, based on wall thickness, story height, bracing wall spacing, and the roof, loft and
second story weight above earthen walls.[103]
Seismic-Resistant Construction Techniques[edit]
Building techniques that are more ductile than brittle, like the contained earth type of earthbag, or tire
walls of earthships, may better avoid collapse than brittle unreinforced earth. Contained gravel base
courses may add base isolation potential.
Wall containment can be added to techniques like adobe to resist loss of material that leads to
collapse.[104] Confined masonry is effective for adobe against quake forces of 0.3 g[105][106] may be
useful with earthen masonry.
Many types of reinforcement can increase wall strength, such as plastic or wire mesh and reinforcing
rods of steel or fiberglass or bamboo. Earth resists compression well but is weak when twisted.
Tensile reinforcement must span potential damage points and be well-anchored to increase out-of-
plane stability. Bond beams at wall tops are vital and must be well attached to walls.[107]
Builders should be aware that organic reinforcements embedded in walls may be destroyed before
the building is retired. Attachment details of reinforcement are critical to resist higher forces. Best
adobe shear strength came from horizontal reinforcement attached directly to vertical rebar spanning
from footing to bond beam.[108]
Interlaced wood in earthen walls reduces quake damage if wood is not damaged by dry rot or
insects. Timberlacing includes finely webbed Dhajji,[109] and other types.[110]

Advantages
 Rammed earth has excellent thermal qualities. It
heats up slowly during the day and releases heat
during the evening

 The thickness and density of the walls lends itself

naturally to soundproofing.

 Virtually fireproof

 Economically viable

 Energy efficient
  Allows more air exchange than concrete structures,
as the materials allow the building to breath. This
avoids condensation issues without significant heat
loss

 Materials are readily available and relatively cheap

 Resistant to termites.

 Can be used to build and design earthquake-resistant

buildings.

Disadvantages
 Not a good insulator, as rammed earth often requires insulation in
colder climates. Similar to brick and concrete buildings.

 Can be used in wetter climates but must be protected from heavy rain
by an overhanging roof.

Neo-vernacular architecture
Advantage
disadvantage
Construction methods