[Strawbale] SB Arches

[Kester Wilkinson]

Lol - Chris you can't be accused of not thinking outside the box.  I
have got no useful advice other than to say "count me in".  Once you
start, if you have any need for an overpaid opinionated and extremely
moody civil servant I'd love to help out for a few days.  I am very good
at making tea and moaning.

I assume as you are on an island you will be building a strawbale
pontoon for access from the mainland !

Regards
Kes


-----Original Message-----
From: strawbale-admin at amper....muni.cz
[mailto:strawbale-admin at amper....muni.cz] On Behalf Of Chris Mowatt
Sent: 23 October 2003 09:48
To: strawbale at amper....muni.cz
Subject: [Strawbale] SB Arches

Has anyone got experience of building arches in a SB wall? What
technique
works best? Can SB arches be made genuinely load-bearing or do they need
to
be re-inforced in some way? What type of SB arch is strongest and or
easiest
to build. Roman arches seem simpler. Norman arches built of masonry are
structurally stronger and lighter than Roman Arches. Is the same true
for
SB? How is a Norman arch achieved? How do you calculate the correct
radius
for the curves in Norman arches and where do you position the centres?

We are planning four largish(2m/7ft wide) arched windows or openings in
our
proposed four storey tower house castle. The floor structure of the
floor
above will spread the weight of the upper storeys, but the section that
contains the arches will need to do its share of the load-bearing. Would
it
be prudent to have a squared floor to floor timber frame and add arched
SB
infill simply for aesthetics? Or can a SB arch be relied upon to take
the
load and distribute it into the neighbouring wall in the same way a
masonry
arch would? The arches could be deeper than the standard wall if
necessary.
This would add strength and make for an interesting internal feature,
but
we'd rather not if we don't have to. Likewise, we'd rather not have any
more
timber-framing than we have to. We are trying to take the load-bearing
concept as far as we can.

Chris
Isle of Arran
Scotland

P.S.
I can already hear you sceptics out there sucking in your breath and
saying
"He's gotta be joking! Not only is he crazy enough to build a four
storey SB
building, but he's going to put damn great holes in it!". Well you guys
have
got a shock in store.

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