Manufacturing of laterite bricks as an environmental friendly alternative row material

Abstract

There is a deficiency of row materials for housing in Sri Lanka because of population growth. So there is an unfulfilled demand for traditional row materials such as river sand and clay. Serious environmental problems are caused because of over excavation of above row materials. To minimize the environmental problems, it should be focused towards low cost and environmental friendly alternative row materials which are occurring in sufficient amount in Sri Lanka. In order to fulfill the demand of row material for housing and other constructions, laterite soil can be used with quarry dust and cement as additives. Particle size distribution of the laterite was poorly graded and addition of quarry dust corrected this deficiency. The bricks which are made from laterite and quarry dust mixture can be stabilized using low amount of cement while achieving required compressive strength for walling. This material mixture is more economical and environmental friendly for bricks production.