WORKS IN THE PAST: MEZZANINE FLOOR SLAB

As promised in one of the previous posts, to keep you all informed about the works done and currently going on site, today, we start with the mezzanine slab which was laid in the third house, i.e. the family unit.

Mezzanine slab in the third house is children’s play area, and to provide families who will be living in the house, a space for leisure activities.

Since Sacred Groves is a different project in itself, the method of laying the slab is also very different.

While the conventional buildings use steel reinforcement, we use bamboo reinforcement. And we use cement, stone dust and rubble for the 4 inch thick slab, in the ratio of 1:3:4 (approx.)

The reason for using bamboo reinforcement is that it is abundant, sustainable, and extremely resilient, bamboo has potential in the future to become an ideal replacement in places where steel cannot easily be produced.

In trials of tensile strength, bamboo outperforms most other materials, reinforcement steel included.  It achieves this strength through its hollow, tubular structure, evolved over millennia to resist wind forces in its natural habitat.

Contraction and expansion is one limitation, that bamboo faces which is caused by both temperature changes and water absorption, so to reduce that, the bamboo reinforcement was soaked in water for some days and then used.

The team of Sacred Groves with all their efforts and energy, displaying team work, made it happen within few hours. With our boys carrying the reinforcement, and placing it over the shuttering, a team of people was doing the mix and a team was pouring the mix, it all happened at a crazy speed (with very few breaks in between and also discarding the lunch). But at the end it was finished nicely.

              

While this happened, almost a month ago, and the slab was being cured till now, today again, a 2ft wide slab was laid at the edges of the slab, so that the cob walls can be started again over the floor. And today again we could see the team effort from our members.

 

-Nitika