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Industrial Technology
The Story of Bricks
Words to know:
adobe, architecture, cavity, clinker, compression, course, cycle, die, exterior, extrusion, firing,
green, interior, kiln, laminated, manual, oxide, porosity, pug mill, vitrify
Introduction
It has been said that the study of bricks is the study of civilization.
Bricks made of mud and straw have been used for thousands of years.
Some bricks over 10,000 years old have been discovered. One of the
first building materials created by man, bricks are still a highly desired
choice to this day. Some of the newest homes and modern buildings
use bricks in their construction. The simple brick has maintained its
reputation as a superior building product longer than perhaps any
other product in the modern world.
Plain mud bricks like the ones pictured on the left are called
'adobe' or sometimes 'slump bricks.' Examples of adobe bricks have
survived throughout history and are found
in many ancient buildings. Adobe was
used in the ziggurat temples of
Mesopotamia and by the emperors of
ancient Rome. Since trees were scarce in
the Old Southwest, the American Indians
and the pioneer settlers alike chose adobe brick as the logical material
for buildings. Adobe bricks are still used in certain parts of the world
today.
The cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, Colorado
were built with adobe bricks around 1200 A.D.
Adobe bricks are made from a mixture of mud and small pieces of
straw or reeds. The bricks are formed by hand and left in the sun to
dry. But there is a problem with plain mud bricks. Over time, rain
water will dissolve them and cause them to crumble and break apart.
Early brick makers eventually learned that if they would "burn" the
bricks by baking them in a very hot oven called a kiln, the bricks
would become very hard and durable.
The basic brick making process has survived for thousands of
years. To better understand the complete story, let's take a look back
into history and discover how the brick making process evolved into
the modern brick making industry of today.
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The bricks were left stacked in the drying area for a few
days. After about two days they were turned over. This was
done to facilitate uniform drying and to prevent warping. During
this time tools called dressers or clappers were used to
straighten any crooked bricks and to obtain a smooth surface.
After about four days in dry, hot weather the bricks were
sufficiently hard to allow them to be stacked on end. A finger's
width space was left between each one to allow air to flow
between them. This helped them dry faster. The stacking area
was called a hack or a hackstead. The bricks were covered by
a roof or with straw to protect them from the rain or harsh sun.
After about two weeks the bricks were ready to be fired.
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Even after drying for more than two weeks in the air, the
green bricks still contained 9-15% water. For this reason the
fires were kept low for the first 24-48 hours while the bricks
continued to dry. During this time steam would rise from the top
of the kiln in huge white clouds. They called this steam "water
smoke."
When the steam gases finally cleared it was the signal to increase
the intensity of the fires. If this was done too early, steam would
form inside the bricks and cause them to explode. The brick shown
below on an old school house in Leesville, Indiana is an example of
this condition. This brick was fired too green and the internal gasses
caused it to burst open.
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Summary
Bricks have been around since man first began building
structures. Some say architecture, the art and science of
designing and constructing buildings, began when the first two
bricks were laid together well.
A robot handles
bricks in a
modern brick
plant.
The
history of the brick industry is a good example of the benefits of
mass production. Modern brick making uses at least some
variation of every one of the five original steps we have
discussed. Today, much of the difficult, manual (hand) labor is
performed by high-tech machinery and computer controlled
robots. Laboratories ensure consistent clay mixtures.
Temperature and atmospheric controlled kilns produce uniform,
high quality bricks in hundreds of varieties, shapes, and sizes.
The warm solid feeling of a brick house is greatly preferred by
a wide variety of home builders. Ask the Three Little Pigs!
Bricks are attractive and relatively inexpensive products with
good mechanical properties. The natural resource (clay) is
plentiful and readily available. These are necessary qualities of
any good building material.
Copyright (c) 2005-07, Harley D. Brown, Oolitic Middle School, Oolitic, Indiana