Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:As part of the deployment of the MMMP, Watershed Materials reached out to the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) to organize and co-host a workshop. CASBA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting sustainable construction practices. The members of CASBA are principally designers, contractors, owner builders, and people interested in natural building. The objective of the workshop is to train masons, architects, and other volunteers on the use of compressed earth blocks, and a practical demonstration of the capabilities of the MMMP to produce this type of blocks on site. The workshop aligns with current efforts of CASBA of promoting a resilient rebuilding in fire prone areas of Sonoma County. Thanks to the partnership with CASBA, the information of the workshop was disseminated through other professional organizations such as several American Institute of Architects (AIA) California chapters, the US Green Building Council - Redwood Empire, and the Rebuild Green Coalition (North Bay). The workshop information was disseminated to a contact list of more than 500 professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices. Changes/Problems:The unexpected and unfortunate situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant delay in our original schedule. The social and logistical restrictions put in place by state and federal governments to limit the spread of the virus during most of the last year have inhibited progress with the original planned deployment of the mobile masonry manufacturing plant. Two of our intended partners are no longer going forward with their projects due to legal complications and or loss of funding. The Napa County Resource Conservation District lost funding for the proposed greenhouses and raised planting beds that were to serve as the training program for youth conservation groups. The Paradise Grange group has lost title to the property where the hall that burned down was situated. As a training alternative to those two projects, we are focusing on a workshop September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County to train masons and other volunteers. This project is in the ravaged areas of the Glass fires. Members of the Paradise Grange group, California Straw Builders Association, interested masons, architects and property owners with projects in the fire damaged community are invited. It is going to be a demonstration of how people might manufacture resilient building materials on these rural properties which are subject to seasonal wildfires. As a result of the delays in the original schedule, on August, 9th 2021, the Watershed Materials team requested an additional twelve-month no cost extension for the SBIR Phase II project titled "Community-based Mobile Manufacturing of Structural Masonry Using Regional Materials". What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Watershed Materials team coordinated with members of the California Straw Builders Association (CASBA) to organize a workshop on September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County to train masons, architects and property owners with projects in the community damaged by the 2020 Glass fires. An important part of the workshop was devoted to the participants actively participating in the manufacture of SEB. During the hours that the MMMP was operating, the participants had the opportunity to get familiar with the operation of the equipment. The operation of the MMMP included loading the mixer, adjusting soil and water content, low and high shear mixing of the soil blend, compaction, and offloading of the resulting structural earth blocks. This activity gave the opportunity to the participants to not only see the MMMP in action but also to have a sense of the integrity and the quality of the freshly pressed blocks. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As mentioned in the Targeted Audience section above, Watershed Team was actively cooperating with the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) to organize and co-host a workshop to introduce the new MMMP to the community. Thanks to the partnership with CASBA, the information of the workshop was disseminated through other professional organizations such as several American Institute of Architects (AIA) California chapters, the US Green Building Council - Redwood Empire, and the Rebuild Green Coalition (North Bay). The workshop information was disseminated to a contact list of more than 500 professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Assemble and test the MMMP to produce structural earth blocks. The principal objective of the grant was the development of the MMMP. Watershed team successfully developed and assembled a MMMP capable of producing a hollow-cell compressed earth masonry block that meets current ASTM concrete block performance specifications. The MMMP has two modules, mixing and compression connected by a conveyor belt. The main components of the mixing module are 1-yd3 soil hopper, a belt delivery to blend the soil with the specific binder, and a secondary high shear mixer. This module was designed to operate under continuous mixing at a rate of 5 yd3/hour. The principal components of the compression module were the press and automatic unloader system. Once the assemblage of the MMMP was completed, Watershed team ran two full production trials. The goal of these exercises was two-fold. The first objective was to subject the MMMP to real work conditions. The intent was to detect potential mechanical problems along the production line, generate sufficient data for synchronizing all the modules, and evaluate the durability of certain components in the MMMP. The second objective was to observe the performance of the MMMP after the technical improvements introduced from the completion of the first objective. During this second trial three specific variables were evaluated: production rate, the cosmetic requirements, and mechanical performance of the resulting SEB. Two local available soils were selected as the main component of the soil mix design used in the performance trial of the MMMP during the second objective. Deployment of the MMMP. The team co-hosted a workshop on September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County with Members of the California Straw Builders Association to train masons, architects, and property owners with projects in the community damaged by the 2020 Glass fires. The organization of the workshop had two main objectives: to introduce the newly developed MMMP to different professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices, and to demonstrate the possibility of manufacturing resilient building materials using locally available soil resources. Produce HPEB samples at laboratory scale using regional soils representative of the soils found in Sonoma County, CA Watershed Materials team selected and performed preliminary characterization of six different rural regionally available soils from Sonoma and Napa counties. The team designed and tested a HPEB mix design using selected soils from Sonoma and Napa counties. A different set of experiments were performed to understand the relation between clay fraction content, binder type and content, and curing regimen on the development of strength on the HPEB. The ultimate goal was to establish the optimal parameters to produce HPEB mixes with UCS above 1900 psi and water absorption below 15 pcf.

Publications

Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:As part of the deployment of the MMMP, Watershed Materials reached out to the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) to organize and co-host a workshop. CASBA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting sustainable construction practices. The members of CASBA are principally designers, contractors, owner builders, and people interested in natural building. The objective of the workshop is to train masons, architects, and other volunteers on the use of compressed earth blocks, and a practical demonstration of the capabilities of the MMMP to produce this type of blocks on site. The workshop aligns with current efforts of CASBA of promoting a resilient rebuilding in fire prone areas of Sonoma County. Thanks to the partnership with CASBA, the information of the workshop was disseminated through other professional organizations such as several American Institute of Architects (AIA) California chapters, the US Green Building Council - Redwood Empire, and the Rebuild Green Coalition (North Bay). The workshop information was disseminated to a contact list of more than 500 professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Watershed Materials team coordinated with members of the California Straw Builders Association (CASBA) to organize a workshop on September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County to train masons, architects and property owners with projects in the community damaged by the 2020 Glass fires. An important part of the workshop was devoted to the participants actively participating in the manufacture of SEB. During the hours that the MMMP was operating, the participants had the opportunity to get familiar with the operation of the equipment. The operation of the MMMP included loading the mixer, adjusting soil and water content, low and high shear mixing of the soil blend, compaction, and offloading of the resulting structural earth blocks. This activity gave the opportunity to the participants to not only see the MMMP in action but also to have a sense of the integrity and the quality of the freshly pressed blocks. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As mentioned in the Targeted Audience section above, Watershed Team co-hosted with the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) a workshop to introduce the new MMMP to the community. Thanks to the partnership with CASBA, the information of the workshop was disseminated through other professional organizations such as several American Institute of Architects (AIA) California chapters, the US Green Building Council - Redwood Empire, and the Rebuild Green Coalition (North Bay). The workshop information was disseminated to a contact list of more than 500 professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Assemble and test the MMMP to produce structural earth blocks. Full production trial. The Watershed Materials team tested the Portable and Self-Contained MMMP to produce structural earth blocks. The goal of this exercise was two-fold. The first objective was to subject the MMMP to real work conditions. The intent was to detect potential mechanical problems along the production line, generate sufficient data for synchronizing all the modules, and evaluate the durability of certain components in the MMMP. The second objective was to observe the performance of the MMMP after the technical improvements introduced from the completion of the first objective. During this second trial three specific variables were evaluated: production rate, the cosmetic requirements, and mechanical performance of the resulting SEB. Two local available soils were selected as the main component of the soil mix design used in the performance trial of the MMMP during the second objective. Deployment of the MMMP. The team co-hosted a workshop on September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County with Members of the California Straw Builders Association to train masons, architects, and property owners with projects in the community damaged by the 2020 Glass fires. The organization of the workshop had two main objectives: to introduce the newly developed MMMP to different professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices, and to demonstrate the possibility of manufacturing resilient building materials using locally available soil resources. Produce HPEB samples at laboratory scale using regional soils representative of the soils found in Sonoma County, CA Watershed Materials team selected and performed preliminary characterization of six different rural regionally available soils from Sonoma and Napa counties. The team designed and tested a HPEB mix design using selected soils from Sonoma and Napa counties. A large set of experiments were performed to understand the relation between clay fraction content, binder type and content, and curing regimen on the development of strength on the HPEB. The goal was to establish the optimal parameters to produce HPEB mixes with UCS above 1900 psi and water absorption below 15 pcf.

Publications

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:As part of the deployment of the MMMP, Watershed Materials reached out to the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) to organize and co-host a workshop. CASBA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting sustainable construction practices. The members of CASBA are principally designers, contractors, owner builders, and people interested in natural building. The objective of the workshop is to train masons, architects, and other volunteers on the use of compressed earth blocks, and a practical demonstration of the capabilities of the MMMP to produce this type of blocks on site. The workshop aligns with current efforts of CASBA of promoting a resilient rebuilding in fire prone areas of Sonoma County. Thanks to the partnership with CASBA, the information of the workshop was disseminated through other professional organizations such as several American Institute of Architects (AIA) California chapters, the US Green Building Council - Redwood Empire, and the Rebuild Green Coalition (North Bay). The workshop information was disseminated to a contact list of more than 500 professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices. Changes/Problems:The unexpected and unfortunate situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant delay in our original schedule. The social and logistical restrictions put in place by state and federal governments to limit the spread of the virus during most of the last year have inhibited progress with the original planned deployment of the mobile masonry manufacturing plant. Two of our intended partners are no longer going forward with their projects due to legal complications and or loss of funding. The Napa County Resource Conservation District lost funding for the proposed greenhouses and raised planting beds that were to serve as the training program for youth conservation groups. The Paradise Grange group has lost title to the property where the hall that burned down was situated. As a training alternative to those two projects, we are focusing on a workshop September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County to train masons and other volunteers. This project is in the ravaged areas of the Glass fires. Members of the Paradise Grange group, California Straw Builders Association, interested masons, architects and property owners with projects in the fire damaged community are invited. It is going to be a demonstration of how people might manufacture resilient building materials on these rural properties which are subject to seasonal wildfires. As a result of the delays in the original schedule, on August, 9th 2021, the Watershed Materials team requested an additional twelve-month no cost extension for the SBIR Phase II project titled "Community-based Mobile Manufacturing of Structural Masonry Using Regional Materials". What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As mentioned in the Targeted Audience section above, Watershed Team was actively cooperating with the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) to organize and co-host a workshop to introduce the new MMMP to the community. Thanks to the partnership with CASBA, the information of the workshop was disseminated through other professional organizations such as several American Institute of Architects (AIA) California chapters, the US Green Building Council - Redwood Empire, and the Rebuild Green Coalition (North Bay). The workshop information was disseminated to a contact list of more than 500 professionals with specific interest in sustainable construction practices. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The tasks that the Watershed team will keep working on during the next report period are summarized as follow: Evaluate the performance of the Mobile Masonry Manufacturing Plant using available soils from the rural area where the MMMP will operate. a. Full production trials of the Mobile Masonry Manufacturing Plant using available soils. b. Confirm that the structural earth blocks produced have compressive strength 1400 psi (ASTM C90), water absorption 15 pcf (ASTM C90), linear drying shrinkage ≤0.1% (ASTM C426). Manufacture samples using materials from Sonoma County Perform quantitative mineralogical analysis of the samples Propose mix designs. Evaluate the mechanical properties of the mix designs. Evaluate the suitability of the MBV and MMBV test as performance indicators. Deploy the MMMP to a local site. Run a workshop on September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County to train a total of 75 masons and other volunteers.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Assemble and test the MMMP to produce structural earth blocks. The principal objective of the grant, which was the development of the MMMP, was completed during this period. Watershed team successfully developed and assembled a MMMP capable of producing a hollow-cell compressed earth masonry block that meets current ASTM concrete block performance specifications. The MMMP has two modules, mixing and compression connected by a conveyor belt. The main components of the mixing module are 1-yd3 soil hopper, a belt delivery to blend the soil with the specific binder, and a secondary high shear mixer (de-agglomerator). This module was designed to operate under continuous mixing at a rate of 5 yd3/hour. The principal components of the compression module were the press and automatic unloader system. The work was focused on completing the assemblage of the compaction module. The following tasks were accomplished: · Installing a modified version of an existing press machine by mounting a set of cell molds to the bottom of the press and upgrading the size of the top and bottom hydraulic cylinders. · Installing an automatic unloader system in the press. · Assembling the automatic electronic control system to run the press. Once the assemblage of the MMMP was completed, Watershed team started working on the next goals, running a full production trial and the deployment of the MMMP. · Full production trial. Watershed developed a mix formula using two locally available materials to evaluate the performance of the MMMP during a full production trial. The materials were thoroughly characterized by X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, and optimum moisture content analysis. · Deployment of the MMMP. The initial objective of the project was to work with The Napa County Resource Conservation District and The Paradise Grange group in Butte County as construction demonstration sites to deploy the MMMP. Unfortunately, the Covid shutdown negatively impacted the financial situation of these two partners and forced the cancellation of these two construction projects. As an alternative, the Watershed team coordinated with Members of the California Straw Builders Association to organize a workshop September 18, 2021, in Sonoma County to train masons, architects and property owners with projects in the community damaged by the Glass fires on September 27, 2020. Produce HPEB samples at laboratory scale using regional soils representative of the soils found in Sonoma County, CA In parallel to the work performed on the MMMP, the soil laboratory of Watershed identified a total of 5 different sources of soil locally available within Sonoma County, CA. The list of potential sources of soil included spoil piles, by-products of regional quarries, and construction waste materials. The Watershed soil laboratory collected representative samples of the 5 soils and conducted a preliminary analysis to determine their suitability as components of future block mix formula. The initial moisture content and initial mineralogical characterization was performed.

Publications

Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:As written into Section 5 of the Commercialization Plan, Watershed Materials reached out to leadership of the Napa County Resource Conservation District (NCRCD). NCRCD is an autonomous government agency local to Watershed Materials' headquarters that supports soil/water conservation efforts throughout the predominantly rural-agricultural region. NCRCD's main engagements involve consultations with local farmers, ranchers, and homeowners to protect land health and value; educational programs for youth and community groups; various ecological monitoring and assessment projects such as water quality monitoring and soil health assessments; and the organization of hands-on opportunities for community volunteers to engage with various aspects of environmental and agricultural conservation efforts. WM delivered an informal primer on the main scientific and humanitarian concepts driving the project at NCRCD's demonstration farm. Samples of the High Performance Earth Blocks (HPEB) produced during MMMP testing were present for a hands-on experience with the natural building material. The ideas presented in the workshop were compiled into an informational brochure that was then distributed throughout NCRCD's network of citizens and organizations in order to extend knowledge about ecological building into the community and garner interest for the MMMP apprenticeship program. Changes/Problems:The major problem encountered during this reporting period has been the social and logistical restrictions put in place by state and federal governments to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prohibitions against meeting in groups for extended amounts of time have significantly inhibited progress with the planned deployment of the MMMP to the NCRCD demonstration farm and the post-wildfire rebuilding efforts in Butte County. Specifically, the group effort required to deploy the MMMP to the demonstration farm, lay out the construction project, and assemble the apprenticeship program is impossible under the current conditions. Similarly, direct face-to-face communication with the Paradise Community Guild in Butte County to prepare for the MMMP-based rebuilding effort, as well as gathering and shipping soil samples for laboratory testing, are both currently stalled until the serious risks of interpersonal contact are deemed by governing authorities to have returned to pre-COVID levels. Similar situation happens in other selected areas to deploy the MMMP where the economy has been severely impacted and no partners have been able to acquire land or funding to participate in our program. · Our contact in Calaveras County, Terra Forgette of the Blue Mountain Youth Coalition, has been unable to hold the required meetings and fundraising events that were scheduled for launching a campaign to build a small grow house on their communitygarden site to enable year round food production for their meal program that serves dinner to the needy 3 nights a week. They hope to be able to continue with that effort once Covid is no longer limiting theirfunding process. · The Paradise Community Grange was delayed in rebuilding their facility due to city wide water infrastructure issues. They just got water restored this summer and have started community development by constructing some raised beds for garden projects. Their fundraising has been hampered by the Covid limitations on large gatherings. Most of the money they raise is by concerts. We are still working with their lead coordinator, David Zinc to arrange for the mobile block plant to be set up on their 2.5 acre property at 5704 Chapel Drive in Paradise for use in the rebuilding effort. They will provide volunteers to be trained to both run the plant and lay the block for the new Grange Hall. · Lucas Patzek, Executive Director of Napa County Resource Conservation District was working with us to provide an educational facility on their vineyard and orchard restoration project in the Carneros appelation of the Napa Valley. Due to Covid that property has lost its funding support and is being sold. · The Jameson Animal Rescue project held a meeting July9 and the Architect, Feldman Architecture, was directed by the board to include Watershed Block in the master planning phase of project development. They hope to set up the mobile plant on site and produce blocks for the project. The time horizon for construction is within the next 2 years. All of our work has been impacted by the Covid restrictions. It is not clear when our ability to interact normally with our partners or their trainees will be allowable. These economically disadvantaged areas in the process of rebuilding have been extremely hard hit by the downturn. It is hard for us to predict which of these sorely needed programs will actually come to fruition. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As mentioned in the Targeted Audience section above, results on the progress of the MMMP have been disseminated to citizens and organizations connected to the Napa County Resource Conservation District (NCRCD) through an informational brochure prepared by Watershed Materials. The citizens and organizations connected to NCRCD are known to have an interest in agriculture and ecological conservation efforts, although the scope of NCRCD's outreach efforts do not typically include the building or manufacturing sciences that are intricately connected to both agriculture and ecology. The brochure provides an overview of the scientific and humanitarian goals of the MMMP production system, the manifold benefits of earthen masonry, and the joint plan of action between WM and NCRCD. The brochure aims to garner interest in building science, technology, and the humanities by providing an entryway into the fundamental concepts involved in a regionally-focused manufacturing paradigm, then encourages citizens or organizations to become involved in the volunteer-based building project on-site at the NCRCD demonstration farm. A primary aim of the building project at the demonstration farm is to expose those with varying levels of building experience to the building trade, as a science and a craft, in order to widen the base of citizens within the community that recognize the critical importance of building materials and structures to the local environmental fabric. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?At the time of reporting, the COVID-19 pandemic remains an imminent threat to personal health and safety. Precautions against illness remain the top priority, which also limit some of the project goals involving large construction efforts. Nevertheless, critical work remains to be completed on the MMMP and mix designs to be used in the reconstruction efforts in Butte County. Complete the Mobile Masonry Manufacturing Plant Wire and program the automatic control system Run full production tests within the WM workshop Promptly address any issues that arise during block production Manufacture samples using materials from Butte County Identify the site soils, regional quarried materials, or construction waste materials that will produce samples with optimal performance Receive the selected materials in laboratory quantities (per COVID-19 restrictions) Identify optimal moisture content and optimal binding materials Verify that the samples made from Butte County soils meet or exceed ASTM standards governing standard CMU performance (ASTM standards C90-13, C140/140M-13a and ASTM C426-10) Run the full battery of ASTM tests within WM's in-house geotechnical laboratory Deploy the MMMP to a local site (per COVID-19 restrictions) Co-determine a suitable building project at the NCRCD demonstration farm Assign relevant tasks to participants of the apprenticeship program Deploy the MMMP to Butte County (per COVID-19 restrictions)

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Assemble and test the MMMP to produce structural earth blocks. The principal objective of the grant was to develop a transportable block press capable of manufacturing structural building blocks identical in form to standard concrete masonry units (CMU). The goal was to be able to produce a masonry building block that would fit seamlessly into the current US construction protocols, hence the decision to duplicate the dimensions and installation procedures for concrete masonry units, the single most common building material currently in use within the US marketplace. During this first year of work the team at Watershed Materials has completed 95% of this goal. The work was focused on the development of the press and mixing machine. Building the press There are several compressed earth block (CEB) presses available on the market, but their shape and dimensions prohibit their common use within the established codes and practices. Hollow celled blocks are the only way to easily obtain building permits. Developing a block press capable of manufacturing units with the hollow cells proved to be extremely difficult for a number of reasons. First, getting the mold to fill to the bottom for full consolidation is hindered by the cell molds themselves, which restrict the free flow of the prepared soil blend to the bottom corners of the master mold. Second, compression with the bottom platen being forced upwards against the top platen requires very high compressive forces. And third, because of their thin sections, extracting the freshly made blocks from the master mold requires extreme care and delicacy. Standard compressed earth blocks (CEB), on the other hand, can be handled more roughly because they are solid and thus more rugged when freshly made, and tolerances for CEB are not as restrictive as those for Watershed Blocks and their need to conform more closely to CMU specifications. Finally, the tolerances on the final mix design including moisture content and freedom from agglomerations are much more restrictive than those for CEB. In summary, the difference between Watershed Block (WB) and CEB is one of product quality, and as we discovered in pursuing the work on this portion of the grant, the challenges were great indeed. In an earlier grant funded by the NSF we attempted to design and build from scratch a leverage action press capable of accomplishing manufacture of WB in an entirely new platform. As it turned out, the task was beyond the budget for the program and we were forced to abandon the direction of building on a new platform. For the USDA grant we decided to modify an existing CEB machine, one that had already proven its suitability for making solid blocks. The changes required were to develop a set of cell molds that would mount to the bottom of the press and yet leave freedom of movement for the bottom platen to be forced upward by the hydraulic cylinders, thus compressing the prepared mixture to the thin cell walls. Because the forces of compression required to achieve the required strengths are greater, the size of the hydraulic cylinder needed to be increased from four inches to six inches. The same applied to the hydraulic cylinder used to close and lock the upper platen. We were able to achieve these modifications and produce one at a time WB that met the target strength requirements. Mixing Machine Although there are several mechanical mixers on the market for mixing soil blends, none of them have either the capacity for continuous mixing which is required for full block production at scale, nor the ability to remove the small clay ball agglomerations that inhibit the development of full strength. Previous testing conducted under the NSF grant confirmed that secondary high shear mixing of the earth blend to remove agglomerations (clay balls) resulted in a strength gain of up to 60%. The company developed a high shear secondary mixer (de-agglomerator) and patented it Dynamic Block Press, and associated methods and systems Patent Publication No.: US10486345B2 Publication Date: 26 November 2019. Watershed Materials chose the AirPlaco 634 volumetric mixer as the basis for the mixing plant. Typically, the 634 volumetric mixer is used to blend sand and cement in preparation for delivery to a gunite gun. The 634 has a one cubic yard soil hopper and is capable of continuously delivering prepared soil mixture blended with binder at a rate of 5 cubic yards per hour or enough prepared material to manufacture roughly 100 five inch high hollow celled Watershed Blocks per hour. The Ariplaco 634 needed several modifications from standard. First, it needed a belt delivery in the bottom of the sand hopper rather than an auger because where sand is free flowing, soil will bridge in the hopper, thus the need to change from auger to belt for complete and uniform removal of the raw material. Second, the horsepower and hydraulic flow rate of the 634 needed to be increased over standard since the engine on the 634 was to power the de-agglomerator, the delivery conveyor, and the press itself. Watershed Materials provided the design for the de-agglomerator to the engineers at AirPlaco and they completed the manufacturer and installation. We took delivery of the WM634 in late 2019 and began the process of mounting it to the block press to complete this portion of the grant. Produce HPEB samples at laboratory scale using regional soils representative of the soils found in Butte County, CA Throughout the course of this reporting period, Watershed Materials developed several mix design formulae and produced several HPEB samples using a wide variety of natural site soils, regionally quarried soil blends, geopolymeric materials, supplementary cementitious materials, and traditional cementitious binders in preparation for full-scale block production with the MMMP. To work around the restrictions put in place against the COVID-19 pandemic, which limit Watershed Materials's access to soils from the construction sites in Butte County, Watershed Materials has been making approximations and extrapolations from previous laboratory studies of representative soils in order to best prepare for the postponed testing and construction effort. Continuing the Phase I research involving mix design optimization using Watershed Materials's novel analytical protocols alongside standardized geotechnical test methods, virtually all of the tested samples exceed ASTM requirements for structural masonry units (ASTM C90). With a high degree of confidence, the high-performance mix designs prepared during this reporting period will accommodate the soils that are to be received from Butte County as soon as the logistical restrictions against COVID-19 are lifted.

Publications