Video Collection

Awe' -Itche Ashe' Good Earth Lodges is a Crow Tribal pilot project which utilizes the surrounding materials on the Crow Reservation to produce Compressed Earth Block.

Drying room and palleted earth bricks shown.

Compression Test, and discussion slurry test and kilning process.

This is a demonstration of a CEB making machine. To operate this machine you load the earth into a hopper, then push that earth over the brick mold. The machine has a vibration capability to shake out any air pockets. Then the brick is compressed manually. After compressing the brick, the mould is lifted and the machine is rolled to the next spot. The bricks are then allowed to cure in the spot that they were moulded.

This video demonstrates the making of CEB from start to finish. Fist the loose materials for the bricks re mixed. Then, the loose aterial is loaded into a small hopper, which is slid over the brick mould. Then the brick is compressed with a hydraulic press. The brick is the ejected from the mould and placed in a curing pile where its dimension is checked.

This is also a good demonstration of how many people can be employed in making these blocks.

14 villages work together to mold 30,000 clay bricks each to be used for the construction of a school, teacher houses and bathrooms.