Adobe, pressed-earth, and rammed earth industries in New Mexico

Abstract

Published as public domain, therefore reproducible without permission. Source credit requested. V PrefaceMud is the oldest building material mastered by man. Since the birth of civilization, people have used mud to construct homes. Today, soil remains the primary building material for over 50% of the world's population. In the United States, one third of the nation's adobe dwellings is in New Mexico.This study attempts to document the current adobe industry in New Mexico and to update the Adobe bricks in New Mexico and the first edition of Adobe, pressed-earth, and rammed-earth industries in New Mexico (Smith and Austin, 1989). Since 1980, new findings have emerged concerning the history and characteristics of adobe, the geology and mineralogy of adobe soil, the physical properties of adobe bricks, and the production techniques and market trends of the adobe industry. This report surveys and discusses recent developments in the adobe-brick, pressed-earth-block, and rammed-earth industries.Current (1996) commercial adobe-brick producers as well as manufacturers of pressed-earth-block machines, producers of pressed-earth blocks, and builders of rammed-earth walls are included in the survey. Soil samples were collected from the majority of producers and analyzed for particle sizes and clay-size minerals. Some samples of adobe bricks and pressed-earth blocks from selected producers were tested for durability, strength,