Abstract
A new methodology based on the cross-referencing of spatialized pedological and heritage data is proposed to identify and quantify soil resources available for earth construction. The paper underlines the pedological particularities of areas containing earth heritage and uses these particularities to propose criteria to assess the suitability of soils for modern earth construction. The methodology applied at the regional scale in France (for a given area of 27,200 km2 in Brittany) enabled to specify five new texture classes (balance between clay, silt, sand and gravel content) of suitability for cob soils. This result calls into question recommendations available in the literature.
The methodology also provides data on the scale of availability of the resource to repair earth built heritage (cob) or to build new low impact buildings with integrated modern cob walls. In the studied area the potential waste recovery of 2.8 Mt per year is measured, highlighting the large availability of materials for earth construction. At least 23 % of earthwork wastes of Brittany are suitable for earth construction (0.7 Mt). However, earth remains a non-renewable material and this resource has to be properly managed, requiring an appropriate building design and maintenance in order to increase longevity and to avoid the use of admixture, preventing earth reversibility at end of life.
The methodology also provides data on the scale of availability of the resource to repair earth built heritage (cob) or to build new low impact buildings with integrated modern cob walls. In the studied area the potential waste recovery of 2.8 Mt per year is measured, highlighting the large availability of materials for earth construction. At least 23 % of earthwork wastes of Brittany are suitable for earth construction (0.7 Mt). However, earth remains a non-renewable material and this resource has to be properly managed, requiring an appropriate building design and maintenance in order to increase longevity and to avoid the use of admixture, preventing earth reversibility at end of life.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 485-497 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Construction and Building Materials |
| Volume | 170 |
| Early online date | 23 Mar 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 10 May 2018 |
Bibliographical note
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Construction and Building Materials. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Construction and Building Materials, [170, (2018)] DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.03.097© 2018, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Keywords
- cob
- earthwork waste
- earth construction
- rammed earth
- adobe
- pedology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Building and Construction
- Materials Science(all)
