Background: I have some property in the desert that I want to start developing in 2 years and am looking for options for it. I would like to build a wall near the north boundary - maybe 100 feet long - and attach some small buildings to the wall (a long
greenhouse and a
workshop): the wall would be one of the walls of the smaller buildings. I want the continuous wall because:
1. there is an almost constantly blowing north wind that I want to
shelter my house from. In the winter it is COLD!!!
2. I want to put roof on all of the wall, whether there is a building as part of it or not, to use to capture rain, which will be used in the
greenhouse. Making the wall continuous helps me collect more
water and makes the plumbing more simple.
3. There is a history of people and animals walking across the property from that direction. I saw the property in the winter, when there was a few inches of snow on it, so did not notice that.
The area often has earthquakes, but most are less than 3.x, though some will creep up to 4. It is not well known because it is in the middle of nowhere :)
When I talk to people about building this kind of wall, people usually jump up and say "use rammed earth". The little information that I was able to find, however, says that earthbags hold up much better than rammed earth? True or not? I know that earthbags are a lot of work - set that part of the equation aside for a moment. Either case will be a lot of work. I would like to chose the method that will most likely hold up (if properly constructed) through earthquakes, and be useful for the next 40 years - at least.
Any thoughts?