Index and permeability properties of Kemaliye region's roof soils

The usage of soils with high clay content to block of liquid flow and provide to isolation is a very common application. Although this procedure has been mainly focused on large-scale applications such as landfills or earthfill dams and considered as a research subject, it has become common practice in our country in traditional residential architecture, especially in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia to protect houses from external effects such as rain and snow. At traditional Kemaliye houses also have been benefited from clayey soils to build roof which covers the houses and provide isolation of water. Traditional Kemaliye houses are not covered with an inclined roof, to enable summer usage and several productive activities the top of the houses are used as a flat roof. The roof or ''yetme'' by local name is formed by a clayey soil that characterized by waterproof and known as ''gavcin'' which is laid on wooden beams compressing by a cylindrical stone named ''loğ''. Although the compressed gavcin is sufficient to provide waterproofing of the houses it is a necessity to carry out the compression after the rainfall for the continuity of this effect. At the Kemaliye houses, it is possible to sustain the roof's protective effect by the help of mankind due to adverse effect of the wetting – drying cycle on the impermeability. Loss of population caused by increasing migration due to various reasons over time has led to the abandonment of the houses and causes the neglected roofs to lose its protective effect on the houses against external influences. The isolation problems caused damage to the wooden-frame over time and this situation caused bad consequences even destruction of houses. Even though Kemaliye houses are preserved as an important part of our cultural heritage with limited number of extant examples, these examples are equipped with protective measures that are incompatible with the original structures of the houses. The outer walls of the houses and the roof tops are covered with sheet metal and it is ensured that the houses have been sustained in this way. The solutions which are incompatible with the original constructions have made Kemaliye houses almost like knights in armor. It is only in the recent past that it is possible to recognize the problems of the houses and the importance of the houses for our traditional architecture due to the restricted transportation conditions of the region and the loss of its former vitality. Although the structural details and problems of houses have been presented with various researches made up to this point, this and similar investigations which aimed at resolving problems that can restore originality are newly being carried out. In the scope of the research, it is aimed to determine the engineering properties of soils that used as building materials to build roofs and plastering at Kemaliye houses to establish a foundation for developing appropriate solution ways by making laboratory tests on samples which taken from Kemaliye houses. On the samples; Atterberg limits, sieve and hydrometer analysis, specific gravity, Proctor and hydraulic conductivity tests were carried out.