Part 12 (1/2)

PISe, PRACTICE AND PLANT

Now that sobodies are seriously taking up pise-building, the improvement in plant and technique should be both rapid and considerable The School of Pise Building established at Hornchurch in Essex, by the Imperial Ex-service association, should alone provide us with hly practical kind

It is there, for instance, that various types of shuttering and ra experimentally tested side by side, and their relative efficiency under varying conditions ascertained Under some conditions it is probable that the floor and roof timbers (destined for use in the house under construction) will be found the ” for theof the earth walls

The pise ”Test-House,” built by Messrs Alban Richards at their Ashstead works, was built in this way, and proved highly satisfactory

Another effective and ned and raes intervene between the hts

Theis well illustrated by the bird's-eye vieing the Newlands cottage under construction

[Headnote: Alternative Shutterings]

In this reat scope for ienuity and experience will jointly produce a co all the many conditions enu plain galvanised sheet iron to one side of a corrugated sheet has the qualities of lightness, sidity, and the clai put to the test in actual building

[Illustration: PATENT SHUTTERING FOR PISe DE TERRE _By W Alban Richards and Co_]

There now seeely used for partitions and chih, and experi the best and cheapest way ofearth slabs similar to those of coke-breeze and concrete

The size aiued and grooved

Certain ”concrete”of earth blocks, but it is necessary to remember that sharp blows are required rather than a steady pressure, and also that we are working with a _dry_pise blocks is indicated below

The hand-ran A set of three seems to meet all ordinary requirements, and those shown on p

101 may be taken as typical They should be of hard-wood, s handles They should be 9 in to 12 in

long, and about 5 in by 4 in at maximum cross section

In the sketch they are shown ”narroays-on” No 1 is used for prelieneral consolidating, and No 3 for working along the edges, againststops, and under cross-ties

A South African correspondent, Major Baylay, ards rammers and local pise practice:

[Headnote: South Africa]

”My experience of all black labour is, that they won't put any 'guts'

into it They therefore want fairly heavy rammers, which they can lift and drop, say a foot, and which will do the rest for them The heat of the sun and extreme dryness of atmosphere out here make it advisable to cover up co, moist for choice, otherwise it is liable to dry out too quickly and crack It dries out uncovered at night very well, when there is no rain

”The red loams of South Africa, where not too sandy, make excellent pise They or their equivalent are found almost everywhere In the dry state they set so hard that e heap , and left until the hout the mass When about four or five days old, in ordinary weather, the earth is ready to use--viz, just wet enough to bind when gripped in the hand

It should be passed through a sieve I use a sort of 'chicken run,'

8 ft long, and throw the earth on to it before using Six feet of it is -in mesh, and 2 ft -in mesh; the reason for this is that, if the earth is a little too dry, it does not always bind ith the previous layer Therefore, put a few petrol tins of the fine earth into the shuttering first in order to ensure good bond, and throw the coarser stuff in after”