Talk:Earthbag construction

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Moon ?

How useful is it to really even mention using this technique on the moon?

I would tend to agree with the above. This hasn't even been shown to even be plausible, let alone the claim that it would "seem to be an ideal solution" to the problem of building structures on the moon. This would seem to be a claim made in the complete absence of evidence on the subject (note the complete lack of references). Up until now, very specialized structures have been needed for space, made of materials that would, say, keep in an atmosphere in a vacuum. Is there any information to suggest that this building method could be adapted to do that? This would seem to be, to me, an example of someone's opinion making it into the article as something more than an opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.248.61.9 (talk) 20:50, 21 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is important to mention in relation to this topic because that is one of the first ways people were thinking of employing earthbags to build permanent structures. Matthew Ferguson (talk) 15:31, 25 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Nadir Kahlili of Calearth (sp?) designed the method having been contracted by NASA. The point is a structure with minimal imported materials - aluminized mylar sheets would easily solve the issue with keeping in atmosphere. It is definately plausible, lunar soil is ideal for flexible form rammed earth (moon) construction, though wetting it would be an issue. I recall that there is CaS(H2O) on the moon, we call that Gypsum and it makes plaster. This criticism ignores the basics of the construction method; fill a sack and beat it hard, earth, moon, mars... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.24.104.202 (talk) 07:52, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Nadir did not develop the idea of building homes out of earthbags he merely popularized it. Building with earthbags has been used in warfare and flood defense applications "for at least 100 years". In trenchwarfare situations it has also been used to make roofed structures, and is not limited to retaining walls. A few others were building homes out of earthbags before Nadir got involved. See the appropedia article on earthbag building history section: [1]. He was definately the only one I have heard of who was suggesting it as a suitable solution to building on the moon.[2] Also I would add that the term "flexible form rammed earth" should not be used to describe this technique. Rammed earth almost always refers to a different natural building technique which does not use any earthbags or tubes, indeed some say the oldest human structures are rammed earth, long before plastics. I could find only one source which used this term as a synonym for earthbag building (Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques. Kaki Hunter, Donald Kiffmeyer). Matthew Ferguson (talk) 09:20, 30 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Picture

Can we have an example picture added? I feel like it would greatly contribute to people's understanding of this technique. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.36.86.24 (talk) 02:17, 18 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]