Throughout the think tank period over a decade in Ferrocement concept I did not digest brick wall concept since these bricks eat away fertility of fields

In the year 1999, I got the opportunity to experiment with Ferrocement Hollow Blocks (FHB) replacing bricks and retaining advantages of conventional ferrocement walling but without its the shortcomings.

Photograph: A room with walls of Ferrocement Hollow Blocks.


The photograph shows a prototype room of size 3.7 m X 3.7 m X 3.0 m (ht) constructed using FHBs. In fact, the construction is designed for ground + one and load bearing type having wall thickness of 150 mm. Presently, the ground floor construction is over.

The FHB blocks in the walling have external dimensions as 450 mm long, 150 mm width and 150 mm height. Walls and bottom slab thickness are 20 mm and 15 mm respectively. The block is laid bottom slab top and getting mesh strands outcropping from walls embedded in mortar layer below. This arrangement makes the total wall act as Shear Wall that resists earthquake shocks effectively and weigh light.

Moreover, this walling provides for thermal comforts since it's made of Hollows!