This study investigates the structural behavior of bahareque earth walls, a traditional construction system commonly used in rural areas of northern South America. Bahareque (wattle and daub) walls, consisting of guadua (a bamboo-like material) or wooden frames filled with soil mixes, have demonstrated considerable resilience in seismic zones due to their lightweight and flexible nature. Despite their widespread use in these communities, limited scientific data exist on their seismic performance under in-plane pseudo-static horizontal loading. This research addresses this gap by experimentally evaluating the seismic behavior of five wall models with different combinations of guadua, wood, and earth filling materials. The methodology included four main phases, namely field visits to document traditional construction techniques, material characterization, prototype testing under pseudo-static loads, and an analysis of mechanical behavior. Key material properties, including compressive strength and Young’s modulus, were determined, alongside the mechanical and physical properties of the infill material, which incorporated natural fibers. Pseudo-static tests were conducted on five wall prototypes, featuring various configurations of guadua and wood frameworks, both with and without soil infill. The walls were subjected to horizontal in-plane loads to assess their deformation capacity, energy dissipation, and failure mechanisms. The results indicated that walls with soil mixture infill—specifically the GSHS (guadua frame with horizontal guadua strips and soil mixture infill) and TSHS (wood frame with horizontal guadua strips and soil mixture infill) configurations—demonstrated the best seismic performance, with maximum displacements reaching up to 166 mm and strengths ranging from 6.4 to 8.4 kN. The study concludes that bahareque walls, particularly those incorporating soil mixes and horizontal guadua strips, exhibit high resilience under seismic conditions and provide a sustainable construction alternative for rural regions. The scope of this study is limited by the exclusion of dynamic seismic simulations, which could offer additional insights into the behavior of bahareque walls under real earthquake conditions. The novelty of this research lies in the direct evaluation of the seismic performance of traditional bahareque configurations, specifically comparing walls constructed with guadua and wooden frameworks, while emphasizing the critical role of soil infill and guadua strips in structural performance.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Latin American cities adopted earthen construction techniques from European colonizers. As a result, rammed earth (RE) buildings now occupy an important place in Latin America’s cultural heritage. However, earthquakes around the world have shown that unreinforced earthen constructions are highly vulnerable. For several years, researchers in northern South America have been proposing a technique that consists of installing confining steel plates (or wooden elements) on both sides of the RE walls to form a grid. This system has shown excellent performance in controlling seismic damage and increasing strength and ductility capacity. Although researchers have tested full-scale one- and two-story earthen walls under pseudo-static loading in the laboratory, and one- and two-story earthen walls at 1:1 and 1:2 scales on uniaxial and biaxial shaking tables, the behavior of a complete reinforced module (one- or two-story) on a shaking table has never been assessed. The present study presents the results of shaking table tests performed on two-story RE modules at 1:4 scale. The experimental data indicate that the retrofit system with confining steel plates was effective in reducing the seismic damage of earthen constructions. In addition, the comparison of the results of the 1:4 scale tests with the 1:2 and 1:1 scale tests previously conducted by the researchers shows that the acceleration levels of the equivalent prototypes are in the same order of magnitude for the three scales.

Earthen buildings are a fundamental part of Colombia's historical architectural heritage. This heritage has been deteriorating due to a lack of knowledge, disconnection from cultural roots, and because of the structural vulnerability of these buildings, mainly caused by earthquakes and moisture. Throughout recent years, research has been carried out in order to structurally intervene and preserve these buildings, however, within the Colombian context there are few studies regarding the location, distribution, and main characteristics of earthen buildings. Therefore, this research is presented from general to specific, beginning with an approach to Andean earthen architecture in Colombia, and ending with a case study of an urban environment: The Historic Centre of Bogotá (HCB). Based on this context, the most important earthen construction techniques and rehabilitation techniques were identified. Regarding the HCB case analysed, it was possible to identify the location, relationships, geometric characteristics, and intervention techniques of one-and-two-storey earthen buildings, by means of a procedure that can be replicated in other Colombian cities. The relevance of analysing Colombian earthen constructions is to contribute to the development of intervention techniques for, firstly, facilitating the conservation of their architectural heritage characteristics, and secondly, improving their structural behaviour to survive major earthquakes.

Los españoles que conquistaron la zona andina latinoamericana construyeron edificios en adobe y tapia apisonada. Por esta razón, el 90% de los edificios patrimoniales en Colombia están construidos en tierra; la mayoría ubicados en zonas de amenaza sísmica intermedia y alta. Considerando que estas edificaciones son sísmicamente vulnerables, en 2019 se incluyó la norma AIS-610-EP-2017 en la reglamentación sismo-resistente del país (norma para reforzamiento sísmico de edificios patrimoniales en tierra). Utilizando esta norma, se analizaron dos edificios construidos en el siglo XVI. Los muros fueron reforzados con placas de acero (o de madera). Los resultados indican que para cargas sísmicas solo el 24% de los muros sin refuerzo tendrían tensiones menores que la resistencia a la tracción de la tierra, mientras que en los muros reforzados este porcentaje es del 98%. Asimismo, las tensiones en los elementos de refuerzo (acero y madera) se mantienen por debajo de los límites permisibles.