[Greenbuilding] suggestions for outdoor wall?

[Kenton Knowles]

Tire bales can be had for the transportation costs, and covered with lath and plaster, but the width is about 2-3 feet, if that works. Contact your local tire shop, and ask who picks up their tires, and see what they do with them. 
They build windbreaks for cattle with them in Kansas, and are just looking for things to do with them. 
A Rastra wall can be covered with stucco or stone, and installed by a professional crew may cost only about $10/sf plus the finish, and installed by volunteers may cost about $7.00/sf, and could be built and stuccoed in two weekends.
This is of course depending where you are in the country.
A quick and easy wall to build is a slip form wall of rocks, rubble and concrete, although labor intensive,and less easy on the eco-system because of the Portland, than a rammed earth wall, but goes faster with volunteer help.
IMHO
Kenton Knowles

   Global Homes Design-Build
             Tel 785 594 4115
www.globalhomesdesign.com  

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Don Jennings 
  To: greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org 
  Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 3:43 PM
  Subject: [Greenbuilding] suggestions for outdoor wall?



  A local non-profit charter school in my area is planning to enclose a 
  grassy area as a place for kids to play. One of the concerns is that it 
  is adjacent to a fairly busy street. Not surprisingly, they are 
  considering a block/brick/concrete wall on one side for safety (i.e. to 
  keep kids away from cars and cars away from kids).

  Any suggestions for other materials or other ways to accomplish that 
  goal which might be more environmentally friendly? We are currently 
  investigating rammed earth (per MIT's rammed earth N51; see 
  http://www.mit.edu/~jdahmen/rammed/ if you are interested), but didn't 
  want to overlook other options.

  Take care,
  Don


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