Improving the Structural Characteristics of Earth Blocks as an Input of Affordable Housing for Low-Income Northern Communities of Ghana

There is a high incidence of poverty in the three northern regions of Ghana, and as a result many of the inhabitants cannot afford the high cost of cement-based building materials such as sandcrete blocks. Buildings are therefore predominantly constructed with earth occasionally stabilized with cow-dung. Such buildings suffer rapid deteriorations due to the prevalent adverse weather conditions and rampant events of flooding, especially in low-lying areas. To forestall this perennial problem, this study investigatedthe structural characteristics of earth blocks stabilized with cement and cow-dung. Three different types of earth blocks were prepared from cow-dung only; cow-dung and cement and cement only. For the cow-dung-only earth blocks, four samples were prepared with cow-dung additions of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by volume. Also, for the cow-dung and cement earth blocks, four samples were prepared with cowdung additions of 3%, 8%, 13% and 18% with 2% cement added to each sample; whilst for the cement-only earth blocks, one sample was prepared by adding 2% cement to earth. The blocks were cured for 28 days and tested for compressive strength. The 28-daysaverage compressive strength of cow-dung-only earth blocks were 0.36N/mm, 0.37N/mm, 0.53N/mm, and 0.43N/mm for 5%, 10% 15% and 20% cow-dung additions respectively. Similarly, for the cow-dung and 2% cement earth blocks, the results were 0.85N/mm, 0.95N/mm, 0.62N/mm, and 0.33N/mm for the 3%, 8% 13% and 18% cow-dung additions respectively. Finally, for the 2% cement-only earth blocks, the compressive strength was 0.72N/mm. It was concluded that the compressive strength of cow-dung stabilized earth blocks improves significantly when nominal amounts of cement are added; and hence should be adopted for affordable and sustainable housing delivery in the three northern regions of Ghana where cow-dung abounds.