Belgian clay geo-resources and their use for making compressed earth bricks

This study has two objectives: contribute to the knowledge of Belgian clays and evaluate their use for manufacture of compressed earth block (CEBs). Nineteen Belgian clays formations were sampled in 56 sites and 135 samples were collected and analyzed. The analyzes focused on the determination of particle size, plasticity, nature and mineralogy, the main characteristics for assessing the suitability of the soil to make CEBs. These analyzes allow to classify the sampled formations in three categories: clays that can be used unchanged to make CEBs (2 formulations), clays that are suitable for the manufacture of CEBs but require modification (13 formulations) and clays that are unsuitable to the manufacture of CEBs (4 formulations).