Brick and block technology supports housing delivery in Tanzania

13th November 2015

By: Kimberley Smuts

Creamer Media Reporter

  

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The National Housing Corporation (NHC) of Tanzania is partnering with brick- and block-making machine manufacturer Hydraform in the delivery of housing projects across more than 20 sites in the country.

The sites where the NHC is working comprise between 20 and 200 units each, with about 6 000 people employed on the projects, thus, increasing employment opportunities and wealth.

Hydraform sales and marketing director Nazlie Dickson says: “The NHC has developed a five-year strategic plan to build and deliver a minimum of 15 000 houses for sale and lease. This impressive directive will be achieved through a spectrum of approaches that include public–private partnerships, as well as various alternative building technologies and materials for the construction of quality affordable housing units and homes for low-income earners.”

As part of this partnership, Hydraform delivered machines and provided training for the NHC engineers and project managers, who have subsequently reported cost savings of between 15% and 30% using Hydraform technology, compared with conventional building methods, she says.

“A prominent advantage of the Hydraform system, according to the NHC representatives, is that local raw materials are used to make the bricks and blocks on site, which renders mass-scale housing delivery a viable and replicable undertaking”.

NHC first introduced the Hydraform technology for housing delivery in 2010, after a successful demonstration house was built by Hydraform’s Tanzanian partner, Newton Trust Company.

After Newton Trust demonstrated the cost savings, quality and speed of construction using Hydraform’s technology, the NHC decided to implement the building system to fast-track its projects and improve costs.

Hydraform’s patented machines hydraulically compress soil mixed with 10% cement and water to form an interlocking block. The blocks go through a seven-day wet curing and a seven-day dry curing period to reach construction strength of 7 MPa on each load- bearing block. This means the Hydraform interlocking blocks can be used to build ground-plus-one without concrete or steel columns.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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