Mud Brick

[lauragill]

If anyone can tell me: how hard is mud brick? Specifically, how much force would it take to punch through a mud brick wall? I'd be grateful.

[Antoine Vanner]

Some of the oldest mud-brick I have seen was at Mari, in Syria, an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. It is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th millennium BC, although it flourished with series of superimposed palaces spanning a thousand years, from 2900 BC until 1759 BC. The bricks seem to have the strength of modern fired brick - they've certainly been keeping their cohesiveness for a very long time. If you want to know more a good starting point is the Wikipedia article - just Google Mari Syria also to see some excellent images.

So depending how thick a wall of mud-brick is, and depending on how old it is, it probably isn't much weaker than a modern brick wall.I suspect that more recently constructed mud bricks may be less strong. Having said this I've seen ant-heaps in West Africa that seemed to be as hard as concrete.

[annis]

Mudbrick construction should be just as strong as concrete. If there was a weakness in ancient mudbrick construction it would probably lie in the mortar or insufficient protection against rain, though most would use a clay or lime caoting as an outside sealant. This form of construction was generally most popular in area with dry climates anyway. If you wanted someone to punch through a mudbrick wall, he'd better choose one that's still in the process of construction so not yet "set", or else one that hasn't been properly made or he'll end up with a broken arm

[lauragill]

[quote=""annis""]Mudbrick construction should be just as strong as concrete. If there was a weakness in ancient mudbrick construction it would probably lie in the mortar or insufficient protection against rain, though most would use a clay or lime caoting as an outside sealant. This form of construction was generally most popular in area with dry climates anyway. If you wanted someone to punch through a mudbrick wall, he'd better choose one that's still in the process of construction so not yet "set", or else one that hasn't been properly made or he'll end up with a broken arm [/quote]

Thanks. My character isn't punching through the wall with his fist, but a stone axe. I imagine it would be hard to do with the mudbrick itself and the many layers of plaster atop it, since walls were whitewashed once a year.

The scene is an arson in the middle of the night. The protagonist and his family are trapped in the back room, and the only way out is to punch a hole through the mudbrick and plaster.