Flooding Effect on Earth Walls

Gabriela M. Medero, Justin H. Kennedy, Peter K. Woodward and Meysam Banimahd
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Gabriela M. Medero: School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, EH14 4AS, Edinburgh, UK
Justin H. Kennedy: School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, EH14 4AS, Edinburgh, UK
Peter K. Woodward: School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, EH14 4AS, Edinburgh, UK
Meysam Banimahd: Technip, Westhill Industrial Estate, Westhill, Aberdeenshire, AB32 6TQ, UK

Sustainability, 2010, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Earth building is a sustainable, environmentally friendly and economical method of construction that has been used worldwide for many centuries. For the past three decades, earth has seen a revival as a building material for a modern construction method due to its benefits in terms of low carbon content, low cost and energy involved during construction, as well as the fact that it is a sustainable technology of building. Climate change is influencing precipitation levels and patterns around the world, and as a consequence, flood risk is increasing rapidly. When flooding occurs, earth buildings are exposed to water by submersion, causing an increase in the degree of saturation of the earth structures and therefore a decrease of the suction between particles. This study investigated the effect of cycles of flooding (consecutive events of flooding followed by dry periods) on earth walls. A series of characterization tests were carried out to obtain the physical and mechanical properties of the studied earth material. In a second stage, Flooding Simulation Tests (FST) were performed to explore the earth walls’ response to repeated flooding events. The results obtained for the tested earth wall/samples with reinforced material (straw) reveal hydraulic hysteresis when wall/samples are subject to cycles of wetting and drying.

Keywords: flooding; earth walls; laboratory testing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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