[Cob] Gravel Bag Foundations

[Shody Ryon]

Hi Michael,
I think the drain pipe should be in gravel and the
gravel should be in filter cloth to keep soil out of
the gravel. As I understand it, even the filter cloth
has an expected life, after which the system is less
effective, but the expected life is better than not
using it.
There is a lot of kinds of lime, hydrated,
non-hydrated, type m? They have different properties
and uses, perhaps. I don't know if some kinds should
be soaked for a while in plain water. There is also
asphalt emulsion which possibly could be used as an
additive. Would there be a possibility of using broken
pieces of concrete to build a stem wall above any
water 
line with the earth built on top? If this would work,
perhaps some bamboo could be used instead of re bar
for tinsel strength in the concrete pieces or in the
earth? I guess barbed wire is used with the earth
bags. Perhaps a structural engineer could figure this
out. I do not know how rubble foundations work
regarding tinsel strength, either. I hope that what
ever you do works and is safe, because if the
structure does fall, and it is heavy and could be
dangerous (obviously). I was looking at the files (I
am not sure it is the files of this list) and saw that
a earth bag structure fell in the south east. No one
was reported killed or injured in the part I read. The
builders decided not to rebuild with earth, however I
think the occupants still live there.

Cheers,
Shody


       
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