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  • From: tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Earthquake-proof houses----foam and cement sandwich roofs, walls
  • Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 11:50:47 -0500

Well, domes are earthquake-proof too, but foam-cement sandwich panels in roof and walls employ the skills carpenters already know, and with which they are comfortable.

WHEN people die in earthquakes, they are often killed by their own houses collapsing on top of them. That could change if a new construction material similar to styrofoam is used instead of more traditional bricks and mortar.

In tests on 19 January, a two-storey house built from panels of expanded polystyrene sandwiched between cement boards survived a simulated earthquake of magnitude 10, stronger than the world has ever experienced. The quakes that struck Turkey and Iran in 2003 both measured less than magnitude 7, but thousands died when large numbers of brick buildings collapsed.

The foam technology could help prevent such devastating loss of life, says Rachel Jagoda from the Federation of American Scientists in Washington DC, which organised the trial. The material stands up to violent shaking because the foam is lightweight, while the cement coating makes it rigid - features that help a house to stand when others would fall.

Houses made from the composite panels are not only earthquake-proof, but also relatively cheap, simple to construct and energy-efficient. "We hope that agencies and governments in countries that could use this technology will see it and take off with it on their own," Jagoda told /New Scientist/.

From issue 2484 of New Scientist magazine, 29 January 20




  • [Homestead] Earthquake-proof houses----foam and cement sandwich roofs, walls, tvoivozhd, 01/30/2005

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