 Concrete block construction is gaining

importance in developing countries, even in

low-cost housing, and has become a valid
alternative to fired clay bricks and other
common construction materials.
 Concrete
The essential ingredients of concrete are
cement, aggregates(sand, gravel) and
water,
4
 Concrete blocks are produced in a large
variety of shapes and sizes either solid,
cellular or hollow, dense or lightweight, air-
cured or steam-cured, load bearing or non-
load bearing, and can be produced manually
or with the help of machines.
 Solid blocks have no cavities, or have voids
amounting to not more than 25 % of the
gross cross-sectional area.
 Cellular blocks have one or more voids with
one bed blind on the other face, and are laid
with this 'blind end' upwards, preventing
wastage of bedding mortar, which would
otherwise drop into the cavities.
 Hollow blocks are the most common types of
concrete blocks, having one or more holes
that are open at both sides. The total void
area can amount to 50 % of the gross cross-
sectional area.
 The most commonly used concrete blocks are
the stretcher blocks with a nominal
dimensions of:
40 cm x 20 cm x 10cm
40 cm x 20 cm x 15cm
40 cm x 20 cm x 20cm
 The use of hollow concrete blocks has several
advantages:
 they can be made larger than solid blocks,
and if lightweight aggregate is used, can be
very light
 they require far less mortar than solid blocks
(because of the cavities and less proportion
of joints, due to large size), and construction
of walls is easier and quicker;
 the voids can be filled with steel bars and
concrete, achieving high seismic resistance;
 the air-space provides good thermal
insulation, which is of advantage in most
climatic regions, except warm-humid zones;
if desirable, the cavities can also be filled with
thermal insulation material;
 the cavities can be used as ducts for electrical
installation and plumbing.
1. Batching and Mixing
2. Molding
3. Curing
 Aggregates can be batched by volume or by
weight, but the latter is more accurate. For
this reason, cement should only be batched
by weight, or preferably by using only whole
bags of 50 kg
 Concrete blocks can be molded by several
methods, ranging from manually tamping the
concrete in wooden or steel mold boxes to
large-scale production with 'egg-laying'
mobile machines and fully automatic
stationary machines.
 The blocks are either left to set and harden
where they were molded, or carried away on
pallets to the curing place. In all cases it is
important to keep the concrete moist, for
example, by regularly spraying with water,
until the concrete has obtained sufficient
strength.
 Air curingis the standard procedure for the
strength development of concrete, by which
the concrete is kept wet for 7 days or more.
 Steam curing, by which the concrete is
exposed to low or high pressure steam (in
autoclaves), high early strength scan be
achieved (with autoclaving the 28 day
strength of air-cured concrete can be
obtained in 24 hours). However, in
developing countries, steam curing is unlikely
to be implemented, because of its high cost
and sophistication.
FIRED CLAY
PRODUCTS

BRICKS
 Burned clay products are building materials
that are made from suitable types of clay by
molding, drying and burning.
 Examples:
- Building bricks
- Clay roof tiles
 Fired clay products:
 Can have high compressive strengths
 Provide excellent fire-resistance
 Weather resistant and can remain without any
surface protection
 Have no wastage
 Relatively high fuel consumption of the firing
process
 A possible defect of burnt
bricks…"efflorescence”(white salt powder on
the surface)
 Good quality fired clay products tend to be
expensive
 Capital investments for fuel efficient kilns are
often too high
 At present, bricks are the most favored construction
material worldwide due to the following reasons:
 Availability- clays are available almost
universally
 Construction methods-very experienced skill
bricklayers
are available in all villages,& towns
 Size, shape and handling-Bricks are made in
ready-touse sizes and shapes
 Bricks are manufactured from clays.
By moistening and mixing with water, clays become
plastic, easy to mould and are capable to retain their
shape
on drying.
Clay soils are of two types:
 Residual clay &
 Transported clay
Clays generally consist of the following chemical elements:
 Alumina- (Al2O3)
 Silica – (SiO2)
 Lime - (CaO)
 Iron oxide - (Fe2O3)
 Magnesia – (MgO)
 The process of manufacture of bricks is
carried out
in a number of stages.
1. Selection of suitable type of brick earth
2. Preparations and tempering of mud
3. Shaping and molding of brick units
4. Drying of molded bricks
5. Firing or burning of units
6. Cooling of the units
 1. Selection of suitable type of brick earth
A clay soil for brick making should be such
that when
prepared with water, it can be molded, dried
and burnt
without cracking or changing its shape or
warping. The
ideal composition of a good brick earth is:
- Clay (Alumina) – 20-30%
- Silica – 50%-60%
- CaO, MgO – 4.5%
- Iron oxide – 4%-6%
- The earth should be free from alkalis,
organic matter and free lime.
 2. Preparation and tempering of mud
A two stage process:
 Clay Wining: The operations of selecting the
earth,
clearing and digging it, spreading it for
weathering.
 Tempering: the process of converting the
prepared brick
earth into a homogeneous mix of desired
plasticity by
mixing it thoroughly with proper quantities of
water.
 3. Shaping and Molding of bricks
- Molding is the process of making properly
shaped
brick units from thoroughly tampered clay.
 4. Drying of bricks
After molding, the green bricks have to be
dried.
Reasons for drying:
- To make them sufficiently rigid, strong for
handling and stacking
-To minimize the risk of rapture
-To save fuel during burning stage
- Drying of bricks is achieved either by
natural methods or by artificial methods.
 5. Firing
 Firing of the dried bricks is essential to
develop in them the desired building
properties such as:
 Sufficient strength
 Hardness
 Durability and
 Resistance to decay and disintegration
 When clay bricks are heated to a high
temperature, a chemical reaction occurs in
the clay which makes the brick permanently
hard, durable and resistant to weather and
water.
 There are two types of firing kilns for bricks:
- intermittent and
 continuous kilns
 At present, there are two main methods of
burning of bricks in developing countries:
 Clamp burning
 Kiln burning
 Effects of improper burning
1.Over or under sized bricks
2. Glazed bricks
3. Low strength bricks
4. Cracked or broken bricks
 Bricks can be
classified according
to their usage as:
 Common bricks and
 Facing Bricks
 45
 Common bricks are those that are used where
they will not normally be exposed to view and
where there is no claim as to their
appearance. They are suitable for general use
in construction, given that they possess
adequate strength and durability for the
location. The term relates to appearance only.
 Facing bricks have a
suitable appearance
for use where they will
be exposed to view so
that they give an
attractive and pleasant
effect.
 Bricks can be classified according to their
shape and nature as:
 Solid clay bricks and
 Hollow clay bricks
Theessentialpropertiesofbricksmaybeconventionall
ydiscussedunderfourheadings:
Physical properties,
Chemical characteristics,
Thermal characteristics and
Durability.
Shape-rectangular
Size–60mmx120mmx250mm
Color–brickred
Density-
densityvariesfrom1600kg/m3to1900kg/m3meter.Asing
lebricks(65x120x250)willweighbetween3.2kgto3.5kgde
pendinguponitsdensity
 Compressivestrengthisthemostimportantprop
ertyofbricksespeciallybecausetheyaretobeuse
dinloadbearingwalls.Thecompressivestrength
ofabrickdependsonthecompositionoftheclaya
nddegreeofburning.
 The heat and sound conductivity of bricks
varies greatly with their density and porosity.
Very dense and heavy bricks conduct heat
and sound at a great rate. They have there
fore poor thermal and acoustic(sound)
insulation qualities. For this reason, bricks
should be so designed that they are light and
strong and give adequate insulation.
 Bydurabilityofbricksisunderstoodthelengthoftimefo
rwhichtheyremainunalteredandstrongwhenusedinc
onstruction.
 Thedurabilityofbricksdependsonanumberoffactorss
uchas:absorptionvalue,frostresistanceandeffloresce
nce.
 Two types of tests are used to determine the
quality of building bricks.
A. Field test
B. Laboratory test
1. It should have a regular shape, surface and red
colored appearance.
2. It should confirm in size to the specific
dimensions (60mmx120mmx250mm)
3. It should be properly burnt.
4. Absorption should not exceed 25% in any case.
5. A good building brick should posses requisite
compressive strength, which in no case should be
less than 35kg/cm2.
6. Bricks should be hard enough so that it is not
scratched by finger nail.
7. A good brick has a uniform color and structure
through its body
STONE
General
 Natural Stone is one of the oldest
construction material known. Various types
and forms of natural stone can also be
processed to produced other construction
materials.

 As a part of the study of stones as a

construction material, some understanding of
the origin and occurrence of rocks is
essential.
 Rocks can be divided into three major
categories depending on their geological
origin:
 Igneous: formed by the cooling and
crystallization of molten material within or at
the surface of the earth;
 Sedimentary: formed from sediments derived
from preexisting rocks, by precipitation from
solution, or by the accumulation of organic
materials;
 Metamorphic: resulting from the change of
preexisting rocks in to new rocks
 Igneous rocks are the first formed rocks, which made
up the original earth’s crust.
 Hence they are called primary rocks.
 They are the most abundant rocks in the earth crust
 Sedimentary rocks are derived from preexisting
materials through the work of mechanical or
chemical agencies under conditions normal at the
surface of the earth, or they may be composed of
accumulations of organic debris.
 Rock weathering on land produces rock and
mineral fragments that are transported by gravity
(falling) or by wind, water, or ice and deposited
elsewhere on the earth's surface as sediments.
 The process or processes by which soft sediment
is transformed into rock is called lithification
 Once formed, all rocks are subject to processes
of change that occur at the surface of the earth
or within the crust of the earth.
 Metamorphic rocks are formed at varying depths
within the crust when preexisting rocks are
changed physically or chemically under
conditions of high temperature, high pressure, or
both. The process of metamorphism, literally a
"change in form," takes place deep beneath the
earth's surface and acts on all rocks-igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic.
 Despite the abundance of rock, relatively few stones
satisfy the requirements as building stones.
The important requirements are:
(1) strength, (2) hardness,
(3) workability, (4) durability,
(5) color and grain, (6) porosity and texture,
(7) ease of quarrying, and (8) accessibility.
 Hardness is vitally important only where the stone
is to be used in floors, steps, walks, etc.
 hardness does have a bearing on workability. It
varies all the way from soft sandstone, which can be
easily scratched, to some stones harder than steel.
 Stone which does, in general, satisfy the
foregoing requirements and which is
commonly used for construction in Ethiopia
include: basalt, trachyte, granite, limestone,
marble, sandstone, ignimbrite, pumice, and
scoria.
 Basalt and trachyte are very common in
Ethiopia and are mostly used for stone
masonry work and as boulders or crushed
stone for road construction and crushed
aggregate for concrete making.