Earthbag construction is a sustainable, low-cost, housing option for developing countries. Earthbag structures are built of individual soil-filled fabric bags ( i.e., sand bags) stacked in a running bond pattern. Once stacked, earthbags are compacted and the soil inside the bags is dried in-place to form earthen bricks. Barbed wires are placed between each course to affect shear transfer within the wall. Results of an out-of-plane load test on a full-scale earthbag wall are presented in this paper. The wall was subjected to out-of-plane pressure up to 3.16 kPa, which resulted in plastic deformations up to 50 mm. The wall did not collapse during loading. Wall behavior and force transfer mechanisms are discussed.
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