Cambridge Rammed Earth Project
September 2011 – Building a Rammed Earth Feature Wall inside a new SIPS House in Cambridgeshire…
We made it to the top! We capped it off with a wet earthcrete mix
Nearly done, just 300mm to go…
Ramming the blend of sub soils into the shuttering formwork
Nick, Neil and Ian
Stelios gets to grip with a modified Scabbler which is now a Pneumatic Rammer
Scaffolding erected and hoist installed
Nick and Neil discuss the finer points of moisture levels
First section of shuttering in place, if this stays level then the rest should follow
Shuttering located on the foam glass upstand
Two different sub soils will be blended to give us the mix we need
The foam glass base which the wall will be rammed off
The 150mm X 45mm framework pre-assembled and loaded on the trailer
The main sides of the shuttering varnished and ready for loading
All the support ribs assembled ready to take to Girton
This is the bottom section of the shuttering, 4.5 of these will be needed to enclose the 5.2m high feature wall
The ribs are pre bolted to ensure the wall maintains it’s 2.75m x 0.5m dimension
M16 threaded rod used to connect the face and end ribs
M16 threaded rod being cut to size using a stationary engine and power hacksaw… Old school
The 18mm plywood is extended to 2.750m
This is the footprint of the new house…
Nick, the owner, selecting sub soil from a local building site…
The grab lorry can hold 13 tons and takes it to our site 5 miles away for £100
Delivered next to where it will be sieved prior to blending and ramming…