Photo by Pixabay/tookapic
I am extremely happy to announce another major first for earthbag building. Precision Engineering has generously provided drawings and specifications for building earthbag structures in seismic areas to meet code. The documents have been combined into one 6-page PDF and are now available online.
Reinforced Earthbag Specifications is a 6-page PDF describing in drawings and text exactly how one might construct a reinforced earthbag wall that would pass most building codes in areas of high seismic risk. This document was prepared specifically at the request of Dr. Owen Geiger and Kelly Hart for use on reconstruction projects in Haiti, but it could be useful wherever reinforced vertical wall structures may be built. We want to acknowledge and thank Nabil Taha of Precision Engineering for his patience and diligence in preparing this document.
This document is now accessible from EarthbagBuilding.com and EarthbagStructures.com with the following disclaimer:
“The information/drawings that follow are just general and preliminary and may not be applicable to your or to any user’s particular project. Users of these opinions/information assume all liability arising from such use. You should retain the service of Precision Structural Engineering or a local licensed Professional Engineer for engineering on any specific project. Precision Engineering, Earthbagbuilding.com and Earthbagstructures.com make NO warranty, expressed or implied, or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the use and/or application of any material shown here.”
I want to emphasize what an amazing gift this is to the earthbag building community, and to those struggling in stricken areas such as Haiti. As far as I know, this is the first time an engineer has published their drawings and specifications in this manner. It’s truly a pioneering document. There is no big industry driving this movement that can pay for tests that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and so we rely on expert advice to take earthbag building into mainstream use.
