A Comparative Study of Compressed Earth Bricks and Sandcrete Blocks for Building Construction.

Abstract

This study examined the production and testing of sandcrete bricks and compressed earth bricks (CEB’s) with a view to comparing their strength and moisture content of materials used. Some units of sandcrete bricks and laterite bricks were made using machine vibrated sandcrete brick mould and hydraulic brick making machine respectively. The bricks were tested to determine their moisture content and compressive strength. The result obtained from the test were compared with the specifications of Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (2006), Nigerian Building code (2006) and Nigerian Industrial standards (2000). The results indicated that the compressive strength of 300x150x170 sandcrete bricks varies from 1.3 N/mm2 to 2.6 N/mm2, as the curing age increases from 7 to 28 days. For latrite bricks, the strength varies from 1.0N/mm2 at 7 days to 2.2N/mm2 at 28 days. All the bricks produced satisfied the minimum requirements in terms of compressive strength, by all available codes, but the compressive strength of sandcrete bricks is higher than the CEB’s. It was concluded that sandcrete bricks have better strength compare to compressed earth brick, more so compressed earth bricks (CEB’s) absorb more water than sandcrete bricks, and sandcrete bricks can be used as substructure (foundation unit). It was recommended among others that sandcrete bricks should be used for foundation of a building.