The properties and durability of adobe earth-based masonry blocks

Earth is an economical, environmentally friendly and abundantly available building material and is probably one of the oldest building materials known. Nowadays, earth constructions are an area of growing interest, both for rescuing heritage and for a rediscovered eco-sustainability material. However, because earth constructions are a forgotten technique, a lack of skilled people at all levels in this area can be found, from designers to masons, as well as problems of how to carry out compatible conservation works on earthen heritage. This chapter tries to fill this gap for a peculiar earthen construction technique, namely adobe, in which raw earth is mixed and moulded to form blocks to make a bearing wall. The following sections, after a brief historical digression, will deal with how manufacturing adobe earth-based masonry blocks, their typical dimensions, which soil is suitable and which stabilization materials are currently used for enhancing their properties. Then, the principal mechanical and hygro-thermal properties of adobe blocks, how to determine them and which parameters influence them will be provided, as well as methods of testing adobe blocks for durability and practical advice on how to maintaining or improving it will be supplied. Finally, environmental and economic benefits potentially associated with the use of adobe earth-based masonry blocks, including new ways to reuse bulk industrial waste as stabilizers, will be addressed.