The mineralogical and mechanical characteristics of the earth utilised in the earthen buildings sited in the Drâa Valley (Morocco)

The present paper reports the results of a study carried out on the earthen architectures sited in the Drâa valley (Morocco), where a millennial heritage of earthen buildings of great architectonic value (ksar, kasbah e agoudim) is present. In particular, the work reports the results of an experimental investigation carried out in order to determinate the physical and mechanical properties of the earth material utilized in the Drâa valley for the building made of pisé and adobe. The analyses were carried out on different kind of earth, utilized both for adobe and pisé building. Five earths were characterized through the study of the mineralogical composition, the determination of the grain size and the consistency limits. In situ sclerometers analysis was carried out in order to determine the compressive strength. The results of the compositional, physical and mechanical analyses makes it possible to evaluate the suitability of the utilized earths as construction materials and to propose improvement methods.