This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English DevelopmentReport.

These days, stories about adobe are usually about Adobe, theCalifornia company that makes computer products. But this report isabout adobe the traditional building material made of soil.

Adobe is shaped into bricks that can be placed on top of eachother. They are used as a low cost way of making houses. They cansubstitute for other building materials such as wood and steel.

Adobe is soil that contains at least forty percent clay. In itspurest form, clay can be shaped and stretched and used to makeobjects. Clay becomes very hard when it is put in a fire or aspecial oven.

Adobe becomes a sticky mud when it is mixed with water. Liquidadobe mixture can be poured into containers called molds. This waythe adobe ca be shaped into bricks of the desired size. Adobe bricksmust be completely dried before they are used. That is necessary sothat the walls of a building will not shrink or break.

Too much water can make adobe weak. Sometimes other materials areadded to the adobe mixture. These materials help keep the water incorrect balance with the soil. This will help the adobe resistchanges in the weather and humidity.

One material that is commonly added to strengthen the adobe isstraw. Straw is the dried stem part of plants such as wheat, milletand sorghum. Straw is especially popular in places where the claycontent of the soil is high. Other materials such as lime and cementcan be added to strengthen the adobe. About once a year, houses madefrom adobe should be given a layer of mud. This "paint" job helpskeep the adobe strong.

Adobe can take a long time to dry and become hard. So the bricksshould be made in hot dry weather. If the weather is right, thebricks should dry in seven to ten days. People who work with adobemust experiment. They must find the right combination of soil mix,water content and drying methods.

Many people around the world have found that adobe is a low costway to make a house or farm buildings. You can get more informationabout building with adobe from the organization Volunteers inTechnical Assistance, or VITA. VITA is on the Internet atwww.vita.org.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by GaryGarriott. This is Robert Cohen.