Earth shelter dug out in shorter increments than ina mine. Another design inspired by discussion at ferrocement.net.

A Preliminary Concept: 10 ft high by 20 ft wide half circle structure.

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The first picture shows 3 piece arch sets in place, (gold and blue). A single arch set is on floor (green and blue). The set on the floor has been extruded in place, perhaps using a simple board as compass. The concrete would be extruded at very low slump with optional reinforcements. The shaping could be with a short section of slip form for ramming in the low slump concrete. Alternatively free hand shaping does work. The second picture Shows the green arch section, (after sufficient cure) being lifted in to place.

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The third picture shows a side view in axonometric, (no perspective).Along with the fourth picture also in axonometric view, the clearance for the arches is demonstrated. Lifting would be by machine or jig. The green/ gold sections would weigh around half ton each. The blues would weigh under 200 lbs.. Cross section would also be arch like at 8 inches high and 8 inches wide. (Anyone got the perfect metric converter?)

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The fith picture shows the green arch as it might reach hieght, but it might travel a little differently. The sixth picture shows all arches placed. Missing from the pictures is the hillside. It is proposed here that the hillside would be dug out a little at a time. Would this work for mining also? Mining and earth shelter pros are welcome to send comments for posting here. Others are welcome to suggest editing to improve this page.

Other pages in this series. (Click on blue writing to follow links.)