Making Bricks

We completed site management and production know-how this week. The system that Satprem has created focuses on the use of compressed earth blocks. As the blocks are meant to be used mostly in developing countries the machine is totally manual. It requires a crew of seven to run the machine at full speed. ( 2 people for mixing earth and 5 to operate the machine) It might seem a little crazy at first. But when you take into account the actual situation in many developing and the cost of labor in those countries, the numbers work out. The machine can make about 1000 bricks in one day when running non-stop. Check out the video:

http://www.mediamax.com/lordtangent/Hosted/auram.MP4

The process can be automated for use in industrialized countries. But that isn't the focus of the work being done at the Earth Institute.

We also spent one day doing a rammed earth wall.

Completed rammed earth wall.



In the first video Omar is horsing around and breaking one of the unstabilized, incorrectly produced, inferior quality bricks we made in the first section of this weeks course. Ayapam then fetches him another brick to break. ( It's one of the REAL bricks ) Check out the second movie to get an idea of just how strong "mud bricks" can be. Please observe that there is a 4:1 lever applying the pressure to the top of the brick being tested. ( Omar decided not to test a real brick with his fist, BTW )

http://www.mediamax.com/lordtangent/Hosted/brick_break.MP4

Testing the brick (Skip to the end if you want to see it actually break)
http://www.mediamax.com/lordtangent/Hosted/brick_test.MP4

After class we've taken the opportunity to poke around Auroville and look at some of the buildings. People have done some very creative stuff:

Auto-rickshaws and their drivers at the Pondicherry central bus station.


Class will be over this week and I'm finalising my travel plans for after the workshop. I'm using a travel agency to help me book everything. So far my plan is to only travel for about 16 days to leave a buffer for staying in places I find interesting for a little longer.