EarthbagStructures.com
Round Emergency Shelter Plan |
This Emergency Shelter design is the result of a collaboration between Kelly Hart and Dr. Owen Geiger. We came up with this design in response to a plea from aid agencies operating in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake there. The challenge was to provide quick, safe, decent shelter with minimal tools and supplies to sustain life through the winter. Access to remote areas was extremely difficult, since many roads had been destroyed or blocked by landslides. Because of these and other difficulties, and the fact that winter will create a much more dire situation, fast easy-to-build temporary shelter seemed most appropriate.
Overview of the design: This design incorporates a round, earthbag structure partially inset into the ground. Rice bags or sandbags are filled with local soil and tamped in place to create the walls. The roof is built with poles salvaged from destroyed buildings, covered with straw, grass, leaves or whatever is available, covered with plastic sheeting or tarps, and bermed with earth to hold in place. The size can vary according to local needs, and therefore dimensions are not shown. Labor: 90 hours, not including plastering. For example, this structure could be finished by 5 unskilled workers working 6 hours a day for 3 days. Cost: Approximately $100 US dollars, plus barbed wire, and tarps or plastic sheeting. This assumes salvaged doors, windows, woodstove, stove pipe, etc. Building options:
This shows an alternative roof structure that would require a continuous top plate bond beam, or a tension ring made with wire or cable. There are numerous ways to turn this temporary shelter into safer, permanent housing: |
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