EcoSur: Concrete Roof Tiles, puzolanic cement, earth houses, ecomaterials

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August 2003

High quality MCR in Bangladesh - the force of fidelity

Nolasco Ruiz

Three basic points should be fulfilled in the manufacture of Micro-Concrete tiles (MCR) in order to have an efficient, steady and good quality production.

In the first place, vibrating machine and moulds should be accurate, clean and well-maintained
In the second place, materials should conform to established standards of quality
Third and most important, the person himself. Even with proper equipment and materials, if the workers are not competent, the quality of tiles will be inadequate and the tiles will be useless.

SofoNic: A committed team (part 1)

Oxana Delgadillo & Livio González

SofoNIC, as a team, feels committed to one of the most important tasks in the history of mankind: development and use of the land. We don't need a deep study to realize that one of the main pillars in human development is knowing how to make use of the existing natural resources in order to survive. From primitive times our ancestors based their social development on different rural activities, such as hunting, food gathering and later, agriculture.

MCR equipment with Battery or Transformer ?

Kurt Rhyner

Most MCR equipments use a 12 Volt motor to vibrate the screed. In many workshops they connect them to the grid using a transformer. However, the deficient quality of the transformer is often the reason for bad vibration or worse, for overheating and damaging the motor. A transformer has to provide an output of at least 10 Amps in order to guarantee a reliable flow of electricity, and it has to have an equalizer to avoid fluctuations in the current it provides to the motor.

MicroConcrete Roof tiles in post-Mitch houses in Honduras

Víctor Martínez - Honduras

Honduras, a country severely devastated by Hurricane Mitch, leaving 35,000 homeless families and other 50,000 greatly affected with damages between 10 to 50%, received aid from a multitude of friendly countries which made great efforts in order to help solve the problems of habitation generated by this climatic phenomenon.

Colombian decision-maker receives MCR overview in Riobamba

Pedro Villarreal, executive of ProCoNat, director of the Builders for the Future Institute and general secretary of Colombia´s Construction Workers Union, arrived in Riobamba for an overview course about MCR. With a view toward introducing MCR as a means of improving the quality of construction in Colombia through these organization, Pedro and EcoSur officers talked over future plans to achieve this goal. They worked intensively to have a good overview of the whole process of producing tiles, and how to lay them on the roof.