Rubble
Encyclopedia
Rubble is broken stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash
Cornbrash
In geology, Cornbrash was the name applied to the uppermost member of the Bathonian stage of the Jurassic formation in England. It is an old English agricultural name applied in Wiltshire to a variety of loose rubble or brash which, in that part of the country, forms a good soil for growing corn...

). Where present, it becomes more noticeable when the land is ploughed or worked.

Building

"Rubble-work" is a name applied to several types of masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

. One kind, where the stones are loosely thrown together in a wall between boards and grout
Grout
Grout is a construction material used to embed rebars in masonry walls, connect sections of pre-cast concrete, fill voids, and seal joints . Grout is generally composed of a mixture of water, cement, sand, often color tint, and sometimes fine gravel...

ed with mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...

 almost like concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

, is called in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 "muraglia di getto" and in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 "bocage". In Pakistan, walls made of rubble and concrete, cast in a formwork, are called 'situ', which probably derives from Sanskrit (similar to the Latin 'in situ' meaning 'made on the spot').

Work executed with more or less large stones put together without any attempt at courses is called rubble walling. Where similar work is laid in courses, it is known as coursed rubble. Dry-stone walling is somewhat similar work done without the use of mortar. It is bound together by the fit of the stones and the regular placement of stones which extend through the thickness of the wall. A rubble wall built with mortar will be stronger if assembled in this way.

Rubble walls - in Malta

Rubble walls are found all over the island. Similar walls are also frequently found in Sicily and the Arab countries. The various shapes and sizes of the stones used to build these walls look like stones that were found in the area lying on the ground or in the soil. It is most probable that the practice of building these walls around the field was inspired by the Arabs during their rule in Malta, as in Sicily who were also ruled by the Arabs around the same period. The Maltese farmer found that the technique of these walls was very useful especially during an era where resources were limited. Rubble walls are used to serve as borders between the property of one farm from the other. A great advantage that rubble walls offered is that when heavy rain fall their structure would allow excessive water to pass through and therefore, excess water will not ruin the products. Soil erosion is minimised as the wall structure allows the water to pass through but it traps the soil and prevents it from being carried away from the field. One can see many rubble walls on the side of the hills and in valleys where the land slopes down and consequently the soil is in greater danger of being carried away.
The following web site gives you an image of a rubble wall.
http://www.searchmalta.com/cgi-local/photos/main.cgi?id=3398&type=3&brand=0
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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