doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_S4-H04-cd

ABSTRACT

In many parts of the developing countries, low grade cheaper stones are locally available while cement and other building materials are either not easily available or are very expensive. They also have to be transported from distant places. This results in high construction costs often beyond the reach of the people from the low income communities. The need of the hour thus is to develop some cheaper solution based on locally available building materials. Precast Stone-Blocks are one such innovation to reduce dependence on transported building materials and hence bring down the cost of construction. Stone-Blocks are essentially like the conventional concrete masonry blocks. However, the difference is that in Stone-Blocks, more than fifty percent by volume is replaced by locally available stones. That is, in a mould to cast the Stone-Blocks some small to large pieces of irregular shaped stones are placed before pouring concrete in the same. In this way expensive concrete, in the concrete masonry block volume, is effectively replaced by locally available cheaper stones. This results in reduction in the cost of per piece of the Stone-Blocks. The Stone-Blocks are considerably cheaper in cost as compared to the conventional concrete masonry blocks and with the other alternative of burnt-clay bricks masonry.

Keywords: Stone-block, Low cost masonry, Low income housing, Low cost housing.

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