Author(s)

Benedicte Touogam Touolak¹, Fridolin Tchangnwa Nya^1,2*, Emmanuel Ngale Haulin¹, Etienne Yanne¹, Jean Marie Ndjaka³

¹Department of Materiel Processing, Architecture and Habitat, Higher Institute of the Sahel, Maroua, Cameroon.
²Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Maroua, Maroua, Cameroon.
³Department of Physics, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

In a strong commitment to economic valorisation that began a decade and relevant contribution to the problems of housing and creation of small jobs response, the Cameroonian government has invested heavily in promoting use of local materials through the creation of MIPROMALO (Mission for Promotion of local Materials) in 1991 (economic crisis), and through the signing of government circular from the Prime Minister, thus placing its development policies in prior to any development strategy more distant prospect. It was then that housing through development of local building materials becomes one of major policy priorities of Cameroonian’s government. However, there is a low valuation thereof despite availability of local materials and political will expressed in Circular No. 002/CAB/PM of 12 March 2007 on the use of local materials in construction of public buildings. In this study, we analyse the contribution that can play promotion of local materials in construction in the Sahel zone which for a harmonious sustainable development. Specifically, it’s to highlight the added value of using local materials, propose strategies for implementation and production of compressed bricks. This scientific work has therefore a double interest, scientific and technological industrial view and contributes to the development, promotion of local materials and the development of soil and/or basement areas. We arrived after analysis of our data to the conclusion that valuation of clay materials from Maroua’s town was a factor for economic growth and sustainable development. This inventory allows us to implement and produce prototypes suitable compressed bricks, shapes of housing in Sahel zone. However, physical and geotechnical tests on materials clay (raw materials for production of bricks), allow us to better assess characteristics of clay before production of bricks. Well after we submit our bricks to various mechanical and technological tests to assess their ability to withstand loads in extreme temperature conditions of Sahel zone.

Brick, Sahelian Zone, Housing, Local Materials, Labour-Based Technology, High Intensity Hands Work

Touolak, B. , Nya, F. , Haulin, E. , Yanne, E. and Ndjaka, J. (2015) Compressed Bricks Made of Makabaye and Pitoaré Clay: Implementation and Production. Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry, 5, 191-204. doi: 10.4236/ampc.2015.56020.