Soil block stabilized in small format and technology of placement in work, in housing of social interest

Abstract

Researchers belonging to Universidad Nacional de Loja, located at the southern border of Ecuador, investigated about the manufacture of small-size hollow bricks with stabilized soil, as a viable alternative to contribute to the solution of affordable housing. The stabilization of cement was determined by physical-mechanical characterization of the soil. The experimental design was based on a multi-table hexagonal model through the manipulation of two variables: cement and water. The best results obtained were the mixtures with 13 and 9.75% of cement, and 25 and 22% of water, respectively; as well as by the compressive strength of 7.78 and 4.66 MPa, and the softening coefficient above 0.5, what guarantee resistance to moisture.

In order to confirm the social benefit of the laboratory-developed material and its behavior during the building process, a prototype house was built in a rural parish–called Chuquiribamba, under the modality of self-construction for which the following stages were completed: i) Design; ii) Production and iii) Construction, which allowed total involvement of the beneficiary family as well as the community.