Roman Arch, Concrete earth buried above grade Wine/Root Cellar

Hello All,

It's your old pal Rusty, from Ory-Gone

Props to Paul for putting forward the idea of the Wofati. That really intrigued me.

Using the Earth as a thermal flywheel to "Heat and "Cool" your structure.

I like the idea, period.

Some problems I had with idea though:

The use of wood as critical support for the structure. Uhh! NO!!

I'm from a place with 60 to 100 inches of rain a year, won't work for me.


3 layers of paper and plastic and Black Locust poles, I know, I know, I will
plant some this year as a N-Fixer but I need a cellar this year.


So I looked around, concrete lasts a long time around here, even with the rain.

Hmm, concrete, I want to cover a concrete structure in earth and have it last

and drain.


Mike Oehler in panhandle ID, Pine/Fir - Okay, but not in the OR coast range.
may work for a year or two, but......

So my idea.... build a concrete "Roman Arch" above grade, that will naturally drain.

So.. I have started to build it.

check the pics


It' 6' x 12'

still finishing the arch. I was going to use rebar to "hold" the
cinder blocks in blocks in place untill the mortar set.

That won't work.

So I am going to build a metal arch, with lathe, the mortar that. then add gravel and
concrete, and just "Pour" the arch.

Then ass-phaltium, a "Flying buttress" with tarps, T Posts and packed dirt.

Then cover it and add 2 doors.

I will try to update this as it progresses and put ayoutuber up about it.

Cheers!

more pics

Here is how I made the door sill for the entrance,

Stacked the bricks, added rebar and concrete, then let it dry.

Hi Russ, very ambitious.
Though I am not a fan of CMU's, I do like the idea of an arched masonry root cellar.
I would recommend however that you study the art of arches before attempting any further building. My go to resource is Art of the Stone Mason by Ian Cramb, he has extensive treatment of arch building in a very hands-on way that only the truly knowledgeable can put forth and <$10.
I would not asphaltium anything! Wick the moisture out with hygroscopic coatings like lime plaster, but anything that blocks water vapor will be problematic.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PB8TWMKHHMQ&feature=youtu.be is an idea for arched roof.

Just an update ,

Got the hog panels and Lathe for the arch in place.

Then I mortared it into the arch.

Now just finishing up on the concrete and another layer of mortar.

see pics

Oh, thanks for the comments Bill and Keith.

Researching on the assphat-ium or even if the concrete needs a
water barrier.

Concrete is NOT waterproof. Water moves through it,


I built this above ground, on grade so the water will naturally drain.

Next steps

Finish pouring the arch,

Decide on asphaltium/barrier

My neighbor has a tractor with backhoe attachment. The plan is to use the fill
from a small pond to bury this.

Gotta stack functions baby!

Cheers!

Another update.

Got the arch Poured and Motared this weekend.

pics

Next step, decide on the barrier : Asphaltium or plastic

The install the doors and bury it.

Just an update

Work in Portland took me away from this away for awhile but just getting back to finish it

Steps

- Added a door

-Initial Sealant added

The concrete roof leaked so I felt the asphaltium was needed.

Raining last two days and it is dry in there. YES!!!

Next steps

-about 4 layers of plastic sheeting 6 mil, spread out past the structure about 10 feat in every direction

- Stain/weather proof sealant for the door and Jamb

- Add buried extension cord for light and power

- Bury the damn thing

Russ - are you going to earth berm, then plastic sheet, then top with more soil?

That is the way most wofati type structures seem to be done, so that dry soil is next to the structure. The top 50cm of soil over the plastic acts to protect the membrane from damage and punctures. You basically want as much soil as possible inside your membrane umbrella.

The plan is to have several layers of plastic sandwiched between
earth.

So, plastic over the structure, then a foot or so of earth, then several more layers of plastic
then a last foot or two of earth over it.

Yes, Dry soil (Hopefully) between the layers.

Hello All,

An update on this project.

My plan was to bury this with the fill from a pond.

Due to county/state laws that was not possible last summer..

So I improvised. Laid down a couple layers of plastic over the thing. Then buried it 4 feet of hay.

That actually worked well. On the hottest day here, 97 degrees, inside this was 76 degrees.

Plus it has not froze, on the coldest night here 19 degrees it was 49 degrees inside.


The pics



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http://concertposter.org/-2016Jan/RomanArch8.jpg

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So the plan going forward is just to bury this hay again this year.

Cheers!

Oh, the field mouse was not poisoned. Just found it when I entered.

I am all organic no toxic gick.

It is located in field.