Characteristics of saferoom/shelter wall structures—a state-of-the-art review

ABSTRACT There are several ongoing humanitarian crises all around the world that have led to many refugees, who need affordable shelters and saferooms. Additionally, these structures are widely located in the backyard of homes in case of hurricanes, tornados, and/or earthquakes. This paper presents a chronological literature review of investigations and comparisons on characteristics of different type of saferoom/shelter wall systems. The characteristics, scrutinized in this study for each type of wall, include structural strength, construction cost, time to construct, and sustainability of saferoom/shelter walls. The most significant contributions of these studies are identified and presented. The results showed that soilbag shelter walls can be constructed with relatively low cost, relatively shorter time, and being relatively more sustainable compared to other types of shelter walls considered in this study. Soil-filled earthbag specimens are stronger and stiffer than gravel-filled specimens of identical size and stack geometry. Using locally available materials minimizes the energy needed and pollution produced due to material transportations. Furthermore, recyclable waste bags can be used to produce bags in soilbags. A slanted roof can be used in any type of shelter wall to harvest rainwater for each shelter use. Moreover, the literature review indicated that the shelter walls made of CLT, and lumber panels are generally stronger against wind loads (250-mph) compared to walls made of soilbags (225-mph).