CONSTRUCTION OF A PROTOTYPE LOW COST HOUSING MODEL USING FERROCEMENT

摘要

In view of the gigantic housing demand for evergrowing population, low cost housing gained prominence as the conventional methods of construction involve huge finances. Despite several efforts made either to develop low cost materials or techniques, the savings in the construction are marginal or many a time, low cost housing was subjected to the criticism of low quality housing. With the introduction of ferrocement, a versatile building material in civil engineering practice, low cost housing has taken a new turn as precast ferrocement units enabled quick erection of houses. This paper highlights the method of construction of a monolithic prototype-housing unit using ferrocement. The main features of this model are that it does not require any foundation except some earthfill for proper drainage and it is leak - proof, quake - proof and cyclone resistant. The overall saving in the cost is about 40% to 45%.