Soil Cement Interlocking Blocks

Soil Cement Interlocking Blocks

INTRODUCTION

Brick masonry is well proven building material possessing excellent properties

in various terms, for example appearance, durability, cost etc. However, the quality of masonry in a building depends on the materials used and hence all brickwork materials must confirm to certain minimum standards. The basic components of brickwork are brick and mortar. The latter being in itself a composite of cement, lime and sand and sometime of other constituents.

All these bricks either produced by machines or manually using skilled or unskilled labor require mortar joints and some degree of skill for placement when building walls. It also consume labor's time. Furthermore, since bricks are mostly solid, the wall becomes rather massive and oversized for single storey load bearing construction while being insufficiently stable for multi-storey construction. In addition, conventional mortar joints allow only light reinforcement to be used, making the wall an unstable structural component for use in earthquake zones.

Interlocking Brick is inexpensive and can be used without cement or mortar, easy to handle, mould and manufacture. Even unskilled or semiskilled labor can easily and quickly construct a wall.

INTERLOCKING BLOCK

The interlocking blocks are different from other normal bricks. They are rectangular in shape as regular bricks, but they do not require mortar for the masonry work. They are interlocked with each other by means of positive and negative frogs on the top and bottom of the bricks which do not allow horizontal movement between them. They can be used for all kinds of structures like load bearing walls, lintels, sills, walls corners etc.

Raw Materials:

The interlocking bricks can be produced with stone dust or laterite soil and cement.

Cement

Stone-dust

Laterite Soil

Sand

Water

Mortar and Grout Materials

Production Process:

The general steps are as follows:

Sieving of soil (necessary only for soil cement bricks)

Preparation of mixes

Filling mould box with exact amount of mix

Compression of the mix

Removal of brick from brick press and placing it on pallet

Air curing/storage

Testing

ADVANTAGES OF THE INTERLOCKING BLOCKS

Construction costs are 30-50% less than conventional systems

DESIGN DECISIONS	EFFECTS	SIDE EFFECTS	GLOBAL EFFECTS
Modular	No material wasted No cutting or adjusting Fits in place Quickly erected	Labor saving Less supervision necessary Material saving Shortens construction time	Cost saving
Prefabrication	Controlled production Precise dimensions	Labor saving	Cost saving
Light industry	Rapid and exact products Controlled production Controlled quality	Creates local jobs Generates income Reduces Investment	Cost saving
Production on/near site	Configured to demand Production unit mobility	Eliminates transport costs	Cost saving
Use of local materials	Easily available	Cost reduction Reduces transportation costs Eliminates imports	Cost saving
Cement based	Strong & durable materials	Resist fire, wind, flood, earthquake	High value houses
Optimize strength	Optimal use of materials Reduce materials quantity	Cost reduction	Cost saving
Interlocking (no mortar)	Self-aligning Reduces reinforcement Simplify construction	Minimum training Max. use of unskilled labor Reduces wages Permits self-help	Cost saving
Light weight components	Easy to put in place	No equipment needed Less capital investment	Cost saving
Alternative to wood	Minimize wood used in the construction process and the building itself	Cost reduction Reduced deforestation	Cost saving Better environment
Environment	No pollution	No effect	Environment friendly