Rammed earth construction: A proposal for a statistical quality control in the execution process

Abstract

Unlike other common contemporary construction materials such as concrete, mortars, or fired clay bricks, which are widely supported by international standards and regulations, building with rammed earth is barely regulated. Furthermore, its quality control is usually problematic, which regularly encourages the rejection of this technique. In the literature, many authors have suggested ways to safely build a rammed earth wall, but only a few of them have delved into its quality control before and during the construction process. This paper introduces a preliminary methodology and establishes unified criteria, based in a statistical analysis, for both the production and the quality control of this constructive technique in cases dealing with both samples and walls.