The cement-admixed clay slurry was prepared as described in Section 3.2.3 and was then placed in the steel mold having inside dimension of 100 mm ×100 mm×500 mm. Enough compacting was done to remove the honey combed structures. The mold together with the specimen was waxed and kept in the humid room for curing as described in Section 3.2.3. After curing, each specific specimen was removed from its mold and made available for the intended tests. Finally, the specimens with smooth surface and with almost the same densities were selected for testing; other specimens that did not qualify were discarded.