Thousands of Homes Built from Earth Bags Made from Re-claimed Fishing Nets --- Disaster Relief

WELL NOT YET, but it's a good idea.

The worlds oceans and dumps are swimming in old fishing nets and building something useful from them seems an appropriate use for this resource.

Gabion cages are generally made from galvanized steel and are commonly used in retaining walls, for erosion control and for other civil earthworks. Militarily, they are used to build bunkers and other rapidly deployed fortifications.

Earth bags are used to build strong durable housing, often in areas of the world where lumber and other resources are in short supply.

I'm proposing a fusion of these techniques using discarded fishing nets sewn into bags, to contain rocks, sea shells. coconut hulls, tin cans , plastic bottles , driftwood, construction debris or any other abundant material to build both temporary and permanent housing. Stockpiled net bags could be quickly loaded onto ships and deployed to disaster zones around the world. Old nets are durable, abundant and free. In fact, it costs money to dump old nets. Tipping fees could subsidise the manufacture of bags.

So often, when there is a disaster, relief agencies are overwhelmed with all of the difficulty of transporting heavy building materials to the point of need. Bags would be light weight and virtually unbreakable. Victims of the disaster could quickly cobble together a strong shelter from whatever resource is available to fill the bags.

The manufacture of these bags should not be centralized. Instead the bags should be made in coastal villages where ever old nets accumulate. Everyone would then have an interest in cleaning up the shores and the supply of bags would be well dispersed and therefore never far from the point of need.

I'll get back to this soon. Meanwhile please chime in . Dale

Well one is that for all the hype the worlds oceans are not swimming in nets. Fishermen dont have that kind of money. Occasionally someone loses a net that they cant find again but most guys will chase the darn thing down.
what you have it bits of net and the large drift nets that some folks that are only after money set out. the mesh is however; very large cause they are going after large benthic fish like shark and tuna. Other problems that i can see is the effect of that nylon crap on land. in many ways it would be worse for catching everything. IMO it would be better to just destroy every inch of big net and go back to hook and line. one problem with that would be the number of folks who would starve.

I've seen smaller mesh like herring nets at the dump. My kid's play area had salmon netting.

I agree on hook and line for large fish. Netting for anchovies.

I saw some large mesh used in a retaining situation.

When I had a beach tug for log salvage, I walked miles of beach. Lost fishing equipment was found daily. Mostly floats and line but nets as well.

To any commercial fishermen. Over the past 20 years, how many $ worth of equipment have you lost at sea?

I've heard some pretty big numbers in this regard. The ocean is a big place. There's a big spot where plastics accumulate in huge globs. I'll bet nets make up some of that mess.

Dale Hodgins wrote:There's a big spot where plastics accumulate in huge globs. I'll bet nets make up some of that mess.

http://www.ecolife.com/recycling/plastic/pacific-plastic-island-garbage-patch.html

I my self seldom lose gear. I am really diligent about my gear placement and retrieval. Most fishermen that i know are. I admit that a few have enough money to not care that much. from those few you can get lots of net.
where you are shrimp net and dragger net will be abundant for a little while and i am in no way arguing that the idea has no merit. however i do think that most other shores will be dealing with larger meshes designed for larger fish.

that being said i think if you stabilize the aggregate and plaster over it you can build a large shelter very quickly. with the added benefit that net is designed to take strain so roofing and insulation can be done in short order.
you could probably just hang the net and weave sticks in for walls that would cut the worst for an emergency shelter. you might also look at fleeces from sheep that you can work around the net lattice and make very nice felt batts for insulation. Same could be said for the threads of the net itself. nylon can make a very nice felt.

Dale,
what if the nets where use in double layer attached on drift wood structures and your beach combing would be stuffed in between the two layers of net?
I am thinking of using the system to build a small shed or something and use the left over of the loose straw from my straw bale house. stuffed in between the two layers. it could even be plastered afterward

I remember the devastation after the tsunami a few years back. Lots of pulverized flotsam that would stack much better if contained. Once bags are filled and stacked, they could all be lashed together and then covered with another layer of netting which would be pegged or weighted to the ground with rocks or logs.

The airy nature of a net bag would allow things to dry quickly. larger wood would make rafters and all could be covered with tarps. The top netting should be the big stuff that Ernie mentioned. It would provide endless attachment points for attaching tarps and stabilizing guy wires. Some large mesh bags with openings of up to one ft. would be useful since we're not stacking pebbles but rather,the idea is to fill the bags as quickly as possible.


Give me 50 washing machine sized bags and a 3 man crew and I'll fill them and build the roof in a day. The speed of construction and endless attachment points are what separate this system from regular earth bag construction.

Although an earth bag home would no doubt be more durable, a net home could be occupied on day one. Most people could figure out a safe way to stack them without attending a workshop and they could easily tie off to trees, rocks or to other net houses.

The photo below is of flotsam that could easily be jammed into a net bag. In many areas after a flood or tsunami , similar sized stuff is available. Most of it won't be nice and clean like this pile on Vancouver island but if it's bigger than an apple and smaller than a goat, it should make good net filler. I would suggest shoveling dirt on top of each bag as each coarse is laid. And lots of dirt heaped against the finished product would really hold the top netting and tarps in place.

When it's all done it should look like one of those earth sheltered Viking houses covered in tarps and netting.

Jacques Lanteigne wrote:Dale,
what if the nets where use in double layer attached on drift wood structures and your beach combing would be stuffed in between the two layers of net?
I am thinking of using the system to build a small shed or something and use the left over of the loose straw from my straw bale house. stuffed in between the two layers. it could even be plastered afterward

I'm not totally clear on what you're proposing. If you submit a drawing it may illuminate. I'd certainly enjoy helping --- I figured it out, see below



If anyone in Victoria has some netting I would like to take it to the beach and build a model hovel. I'll time the process and give estimates of tonnage used and an estimate # of man hours for a family sized unit.

Just for fun I'm going to run a want ad on used Victoria in the free section. Any bets on how long it takes to find some unwanted nets ?

10 minutes later I'm back. A post and beam structure would be easy to wrap in netting to create a cavity between the nets. The two surfaces should be tied together at regular intervals so that the infill does not bulge the netting hugely. The base could be thick and the wall could become progressively narrower higher up. Tapered. I'm going to insert a photo of a one sided gabion model that I built on Sunday for the thread entitled ---"Dry Stone Pebble Wall. Stone Siding for Wooden Buildings - Requires no mortar or masonry skills. "--- Now imagine that the plywood backing is another wall of wire. Tie wires need to be added so that an even thickness can be achieved. ----------- Notice the wires which tie the wire to the plywood. This created a nice even profile without bulging.

Hi Dale, this thread has been posted on the Earthbag Building Blog, by Owen Geiger. He might be interested in other ideas you have, such as the mechanized building and such. He loves to share other people's ideas and results on the blog, so that others around the world can benefit.

who knows maybe someone in the world is already doing something like this.


http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/earthbags-made-from-recycled-fishing-nets/#comments

Max

this is kinda similar to our Rapidobe concept: http://velacreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/rapidobe.html

We use billboard tarps and cheap netting to make a big bag between posts. We fill that with dirt and rocks, compacting as we fill. After they are filled, we stucco the netting. It is fast, cheap and easy.

Yes , I see the similarity and we're both using a waste product. I could see filling those walls using a front end loader. Was it done by hand ?

I have a plan for a post and beam gabion system that would look much like yours but instead of the tarp,the exterior is galvanized steel wire. This allows for filling with rubble rock, urbanite, or other stuff that might puncture the tarp and for a permanent exterior finish without paint or stucco.

I heard from an aid agency yesterday and they'd like to see a model, so I expect to build something out of the sort of flotsam that is in the photo a few posts up. The guy thought it already existed when in fact it is just a concept at this point. So I guess my mouth has gotten me into trouble and I have some work to do. It should be a rewarding project.

Yeah, we filled by hand. 30ft wall filled in a day. You could fill it with just about anything.

The wire is a good idea, but would add cost. That's why we spaced the posts at 2ft, to avoid needing wire. The billboard tarp is very strong.

How many shovelers ?
2

How thick ?
It's about 10" at the thinnest, and maybe 16" at the thickest

How high ? (all I really want out of life is for everyone to ask me that. )
4ft

A special mix or the dirt below your feet ?
Just dirt under our feet with lots of stones thrown in

How many man hours would you guess went into the wall when you include materials acquisition, wood work, installing tarps and filling ?
Total maybe 30, it goes really fast

Is earthquake an issue for you and if so what steps were taken ?
No, but with the posts and top metal beam, I imagine it would be fine

Did rocks the infill cause any punctures ?
No

Could you drop in a photo so everyone can see what we're talking about ?
I'll try, but follow my link above for photos

Here's what it looked like before:



posts with a c-purlin bond beam:



then filling it up:



then doing finishing up the retaining wall:



and then all finished, plastered and painted:

Abe's photos give a pretty accurate idea of what I have in mind. I didn't find any netting but will try this the next time I stumble into some.

I'm consolidating all of my green building inventions and adaptations under one roof. The thread is called "Dale's Marvellous Inventions and Adaptations." and links to other ideas and inventions. Here's the link --- https://permies.com/t/19303/green-building/Dale-Marvellous-Inventions-Adaptations

Here's some more info and photos on our Rapidobe system:
http://www.velacreations.com/shelter/building-components/walls/item/166.html

Click on any of the photos to see a slideshow of the project.

And an Instructable:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Rapidobe-a-cheap-way-to-build-walls-retaining-w/

Abe Connally wrote:

How high ? (all I really want out of life is for everyone to ask me that.

10 months later, this one is still funny.