Experimental Rammed Earth - A Bridge in Paraguay

A creative SIREWALL experiment in precast design, structural performance, and pushing rammed earth beyond the expected.

At SIREWALL, innovation has always come from asking what else rammed earth can do. One memorable example came from a project in Paraguay, where a pedestrian bridge was needed to cross a small stream. Rather than defaulting to a conventional solution, founder Meror Krayenhoff used the opportunity to explore a more creative structural application: a precast rammed earth bridge panel set between two concrete abutments cast on either side of the stream.

The result was both technical and beautiful. The precast panel was richly colored and formed with an upward curve, creating a simple but intelligent structural concept. For the bridge to deflect under load, it would have to push the concrete supports outward, making the installation a real-world test of whether rammed earth could perform in this type of application. Once the bridge was flown into place with heavy equipment, the team put it to the test—quite literally—with Meror bouncing on it to check for movement and deflection. We are not positioning this as a standard product, but as part of the creative development process that drives SIREWALL forward: experimenting, building, testing, and learning in the field.