[Cob] Artweld Gabions and new book

[dirtcheapbuilder-Charmaine Taylor]

On Apr 26, 2005, at 4:42 AM, Amanda Peck wrote:
  I had (forgotten about gabions).

 >>>>
> who can forget them?  : >    I drive by their  facility almost every 
> other day..they are a big deal here in Eureka CA
>

> While I had been looking for the link I noticed that Skillful Means 
> architects had used Rastra Blocks in foundations.
  >>>>> Rob Bolman has these on a house addition.. I cannot remember if 
it was a bale wall... or possibly a light straw clay.. but he did use 
Rastra as the foundation.


>
> Ah, it was Mikal Jakubal's straw bale vault that used gabion 
> foundations

 >>>>Yes these were the ones I talked about on another list ( organic 
arch I think)    Mikal bought standard gabion baskets wider by a foot 
than the bale walls would be.. and we all barked and cut our shins and 
legs on them as they stuck out just far enough to be a major annoyance 
to trip over and stub toes on.   . he later said he would have paid for 
custom baskets had he known how troublesome that would be..live and 
learn...but of course one never knows until after.. I give him credit 
fro helping warn others.   The gabions stuck out just far enough to not 
let you get close enough to the wall comfortably  to plaster.

he got  them from  a local  company who makes them for road 
erosion..etc  so they are right in our town... see the web site
http://www.hilfiker.com/  they make ArtWeld gabions

>
> (Mark Piepkorn is one of the authors of a new book:   GreenBuilding 
> materials   )
  <<< I have asked to see a review copy and will prolly  carry this. as 
it looks to have a great list of resources!

>  Charmaine Taylor Publishing    books at dirtcheapbuilder.com
PO Box 375 Cutten CA  95534 USA  -- 707-441-1632
www.dirtcheapbuilder.com  &  www.papercrete.com
New& Used books: www.biblio.com






> ................
> Charmaine wrote for all of us who had forgotten about them:
> ...............
> Another option is the Gabions--- wire baskets filled with stones, 
> rubble, etc  that aren;t going anywhere once the lid is closed.  then 
> a slurry of lime mortar could glue them all together, and harden even 
> more over time (  decades) while the cob walls can start going up.
>
>