The "soil" is a natural building material, produced by nature over time, and it appears in several ways. From one point of view which is purely technical, it applies the term soil materials of the earth's crust that support, are heads, dug or drilled and used in Civil Engineering works. Such materials, in turn, react under the foundations and act on the breadwinners, roofing and construction, resist efforts by influencing the works according to their properties and behavior.

Conveniently, treated with small doses of hydraulic binders, the soil has its physical-mechanical performance, as well as resistance to the action of water substantially improved, used the foundation to the roof, this is extremely important, since those properties dictate the limits of planning physical and the choice of structural system, in addition to the appropriate competition with noble materials and more expensive.

We have physical characteristics in the soil such as:

Porosity

Relationship of air voids by the total mass of soil analysis.
Voids: Relationship of air voids by volume of the solid mass of soil analyzed.
Natural Moisture: Value of water weight by the weight of the solid mass of soil analyzed.
Specific Gravity: It is the relationship between the weights of a given fragment by its volume.

Particle Shape

The solid part of a soil is made up of particles and grains that have the following forms.

Spheroidal

They have approximate dimensions in all directions and may, in accordance with the intensity of the transport suffered, be angular or spherical. Ex: sandy soil or gravel.

Flap

In soils of finer particle formation, where the particles are presented with these forms, there is a predominance of two dimensions on the third.

Platy and fibrous

It occurs in soils of organic origin, where one dimension is dominant over the other two.

Particle Size

The soil behavior is linked, among other characteristics, the size of the particles that compose them. According to particle size, the soils are classified into the following types, following the decreasing size of the grains:

• Gravel;
• Sand (coarse, medium or fine);
• Silts;
• Clays;
• Among others.

In nature, a soil is rarely “PURE” that is, consisting entirely of a single particle. Thus, the common ground is to present certain percentage of sand (coarse, medium and fine), silt, clay, gravel, etc. Therefore, the soils are classified according to the following nomenclature - the dominant element is expressed by a noun and the other by an adjective. Example: Sand clayey soil is predominantly sandy with a certain percentage of clay. So, before we always know the type of soil to use it in your application.

Kinds of soil:

There is several soil types (land) found in our surface, but let us look at four, which are the most talked about in our midst

SOIL (EARTH) MIXED

They are the most suitable ones to be used in the manufacture of blocks, bricks and Floors Ecological provided that much sand. The greater the amount of sand rather the strength of the same, and may reach 90% of the mixture of sand particles. In nature, most soils are composed of a mixture of particles of different sizes, in other words fine-grained (cohesive) with other larger size. His behavior is directly related to the percentage of fine particles existing in relation to coarse particles.
It is important to say that mixed soil composed of particles round and / or smooth are much more susceptible to compaction than those composed of particles with sharp edges or angular. However, when compared with the same soil compaction degree, those with angular particles and / or sharp edges (high roughness) have greater load capacity than those composed of dust particles smooth texture, even if the latter present lower grain.
For mixed soils, its composition should be analyzed in order to properly decide what type of machine use, mixed soils need a excellent compression to that in their mixture (compound) to be pressed has a larger economy in cement and that it is easy to make the removal of blocks, bricks and Floors Ecological machine, giving greater economy in its manufacture and won execelente resistance.

SOIL (EARTH) CLAY

One of the main types of soil, clay, is that based bearing (source of water storage that supplies the water table, streams and rivers) for the manufacture of block and ceramic tile. We also have soils with high clay such as the red earth, yellow, and among others, in Brazil are usually found in several states. This type of soil is good for agriculture; it has thin consistency, are not as airy, but hold more water. They are less permeable, the water passes slowly and then being stored. Its composition is good amount of aluminum oxides (gibbsite) and iron (goethite and hematite). The particles are thin and flattened, and the particles tend to clump to each other, so that leave little or no pore space between them. When wet, these soils are muddy and difficult to work. But when it finally dries, in general, become so hard to crack with the heat.

For the practice of making the blocks and ecological bricks depending on the high amount of clay, it is sometimes necessary to add the same sand and stone dust, construction waste, industrial waste and others, to create ridges, greatly reducing the resistance and the addition of cement. Let it be clear, you can make blocks and bricks Ecological land with more clay, but depending on the degree of clay to spend more on cement.

To save money, we have to improve its size with the mixtures mentioned above, including an excellent compression and the machine is flexible to meet the expectations placed in the clay soil. Example: The clay soil is made up of fine particles and flattened and have a tendency of the particle size particle clump when wetted to each other, so, leaving space between them creating voids between the grains. Therefore, the hydraulic machine must have a mobility technique to meet the needs of the junction of grain particle size distributions, so you can pack in such a way that takes all the gaps of the compound mixed.
For that to happen, the maximum height of the blocks and ecological bricks can not be determined by the manufacturer of the machines, and yes, the machine by its operator will provide the correct height. Everything should be adjusted according to the compound mixed, so we made a great ally to a great pressing. Well, it is worth remarking that the clay soil gives the feeling that is pressed, but it can only be cast. Therefore, by the way that the brick is presented, it may appear to be compressed, so we must take basic care and see if it actually occurred. But it is worth remembering that it is more economical to use clay as less as possible, since their use dramatically is only advisable when it is close to production with soil sand content higher than that of clay.

ORGANIC SOIL

They are those which are on the soil surface, such as leaves, roots, and manure among others. The organic soil is useless and should not be used for the manufacture of blocks, bricks and Ecological Flooring. The layer that contains organic material depends greatly on soil type, but also the place where he is. But, generally, is located about 30 centimeters from the surface to be removed for extraction of soil considered good to excellent, and then must be replaced back to maintain its normal characteristics. There are places where organic soil is very deep crust is not feasible to remove it, then, below is also proliferated with organic material.

SILTY SOIL

With large amounts of silt, they are generally very erodable. According to the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards - ABNT, NBR 6502, on rocks and soil - Terminology 1995, defines silt as soil that has low or no plasticity and exhibiting low resistance when dry air. Its properties are due to the dominant party formed by silt.
The silt does not aggregate such as clay, while its particles are very small and light. Production of the silt occurs by mechanical milling of rocks, unlike the chemical erosion that result in clays. The mechanical milling may be due to the action of glaciers, by abrasion, wind erosion, and erosion due to water, as the beds of rivers and streams. In this case, for the manufacture of blocks and ecological bricks must have a minimum of silt not to compromise quality.

IDEAL GROUND (EARTH) FOR MANUFACTURING OF BLOCKS, BRICKS AND FLOOR CLEANERS

Soil is the element that goes into greater proportions in the mixture, in other words the compound homogenized as soil-cement, construction waste or industrial waste, and only among other materials used for the manufacture of blocks and ecological bricks.

So it is very important to pay attention to the correct choice of materials used in this process, especially the ground (earth), that should be selected so as to permit the use of the least amount of cement. Should not be used soils containing organic matter, as this can damage or change the hydration of cement. Although there are soils that alone can not be used in the process, the possibility of mixing two or more types to obtain a viable soil is stabilized and can be used in soil-cement technique and others. The soil before being homogenized (mixed) with cement or other, should preferably be dry, but if not possible, it is advisable in most wet as a wet soil is difficult to be compressed by the action of water by adding grains creating voids in the box so where are molded and pressed. Importantly, the soil should also be free of organic matter, preferably being sifted to remove roots, leaves, etc.. It is very important to make a preliminary assessment of the deposit of soil (earth) to be used, tests and compression tests, to analyze the amount you need in your production and not to miss in the middle of the lot you want.

Ancient peoples

Our ancestors knew very well how to use the land, thousands of buildings were erected over the centuries, and many of them exist today. Among the oldest of land use is the Town of Taos, New Mexico, USA, populated and maintained by the descendants of the Taos Indians.

If the history of mankind shows that the soil is firm as a rock when used technically in the right way, imagine the result with the addition of other raw materials, mainly using modern Hydraulic Machinery for pressing the ground leaving him stabilized, to bring you more benefits. Therefore, the technique stabilized soil (soil - cement, construction waste and industrial) can produce an enormous increase in mechanical strength in buildings that use the ground (earth).