posted 4 years ago
What power equipment will you have? How close to the "right" mix is your soil? Do you have rock available in usable sizes?
When I looked at this 10ish years ago, CEB took the most up front capital, air rammed earth was second, and earth bag was third but more than you would expect. Any method is going to need a super efficient method for moving and mixing material for a project of that scale. You are talking at least hundred tons of material to move.
My preference would be a wide rammed earth wall. Mainly because I have a front end loader and can get a gas powered jumping jack compactor cheap. I would add a little Portland and steel. I would add either a rubble trench foundation with short gabion wall or the big concrete retaining wall bricks, the 2 foot by 2 foot by 4 foot one ton each ones, as my weather protection. Whichever is cheaper/available. You may want more,, probably need less.
Doing rammed earth with an air compactor is better, but $$$$. But so is the extra Portland needed for such a thick wall. There are other stabilizers now, mostly polymers, but I haven't looked into cost or greenness.
You will probably need buttresses right away, so figure out where at least some of the buildings will be and start those walls.
"You must be the change you want to see in the world." "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." --Mahatma Gandhi
"Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words." --Francis of Assisi.
"Family farms work when the whole family works the farm." -- Adam Klaus