Mud Building Practices in Construction Projects in the Gaza Strip

Abstract

Construction industry is considered as one of the most important industries in Palestine. It is known that most construction projects in Gaza Strip have been exposed to various problems due to the shortage of building materials and the siege on enclave. There has been a genuine need to think thoroughly of alternative materials and techniques of construction. The purpose of this thesis is to improve and reinforce the construction industry in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories through a practical and thorough research investigating the applicability of using mud materials in construction in the Gaza Strip. The historical background of this practice, the merits and demerits of earth materials in construction, the barriers and challenges encountering the construction with earth materials, and the techniques used in building with these materials, were studied. This study relied principally on analytical, descriptive and field study methodologies. The first approach was by reviewing the studies and literatures in this area. The second approach was a questionnaire which targeted the participant in the mud building practices and specially the companies that participated in the construction of UNRWA and Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The third approach was structured interview with the companies which implemented those mud building works. The Fourth approach was a case study at two projects that were carried out using clay or mud materials. A questionnaire was designed in the light of the literature review applied on a sample of 48 contracting companies. Collected data is manipulated by SPSS software using many statistical tools as, frequencies, Means, Pearson coloration coefficient and t-test. It is concluded that the construction with Mud building was existed with a certain period of time where no construction materials were available in the local market due to the imposed blockade on Gaza Strip. Finally, the study recommended conducting more detailed studies the stockholders perceptions and attitudes about mud buildings, to prepare a comprehensive research of how to improve the characteristics and behaviors in the weaknesses mud building resistance against weather conditions, and to find ways of examining the mud construction materials and methods adopted in local laboratories as well as the work of ratings and records of all the materials needed to build with mud and all related data.