Soil Cement Block

Soil is the most commonly available material. Soil as a construction material has been used for thousands of years by civilisations all over the world. It is the most abundant building material known and available in majority of the locations. It is also the basic material for the production of bricks. Burnt brick has been considered as a satisfactory material for masonry construction. They are produced by employing a bumming process and hence consume considerable amount of thermal energy during production. Also, very often they are transported over great distances. Pressed Soil Cement Block is an alternative to burnt bricks. Soil cement blocks are also known as stabilized mud blocks (SMB) or stabilized compressed earth block (SCEB). It is one such technology, in which blocks are made by compressing earth/ soil mixed with Suitable stabilizer (cement/ lime) at optimum moisture content by simple mechanical means. Ordinary Portland cement is the most usual stabiliser added 5 to 10% by weight to the soil. Other stabilisers like lime, puzzolana or a combination of cement and lime are also used. Soil cement blocks being usually 2 ½ times larger in size the normal burnt clay bricks, the construction is faster and the joints are consequently reduced. The less number of joints also result in cutting down the amount of mortar required. From the environmental considerations also, use of soil cement blocks in construction work result a substantial saving of energy as no fuel is required for its production. These blocks can be used in construction of houses, government buildings, toilets etc. Production of CSEB helps in generating employment for mostly unskilled labourers.