Brickworks
Encyclopedia
A brickworks also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of brick
s, from clay
or shale
. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock
(the most common material from which bricks are made) often with a quarry for clay
on site.
or truck
/lorry
to the main factory, although it may be stockpiled outside before entering the machinery. When the clay enters the preparation plant (Clay Prep) it is crushed, and mixed with water and other additives which may include breeze, a very fine anthracite that aids firing. This process, which is also known as pugmill
ing, improves the consistency, firing qualities, texture, and colour of the brick. From here, the processed clay can be extruded into a continuous strip and cut with wires, or put into moulds
or presses (also referred to as forming) to form the clay into its final shape. After the forming or cutting, the bricks must be dried, either in the open air, in drying sheds, or in special drying kilns. When the bricks have been dried, they must then be fired or 'burnt' in a kiln, to give them their final hardness and appearance.
.
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s, from clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
or shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
(the most common material from which bricks are made) often with a quarry for clay
Clay pit
A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement.The brickyard or brickworks is often located alongside the clay pit to reduce the transport costs of the raw material. These days pottery producers are often not...
on site.
Equipment
Most brickworks have some or all of the following:- A kilnKilnA kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
, for firing, or 'burning' the bricks. - Drying yardYard (land)A yard is an enclosed area of land, usually tied to a building. The word comes from the same linguistic root as the word garden and has many of the same meanings....
or shedShedA shed is typically a simple, single-storey structure in a back garden or on an allotment that is used for storage, hobbies, or as a workshop....
, for drying bricks before firing. - A building or buildings for manufacturing the bricks.
- A quarryQuarryA quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
for clay. - A pugmill or clay preparation plant (see below).
Brick making
In a typical modern brickworks, clay is taken from the quarry, and then carried by conveyor beltConveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
or truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
/lorry
Lorry
-Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, or a Mine car in USA: an open gondola with a tipping trough* Lorry , a horse-drawn low-loading trolley-In fiction:...
to the main factory, although it may be stockpiled outside before entering the machinery. When the clay enters the preparation plant (Clay Prep) it is crushed, and mixed with water and other additives which may include breeze, a very fine anthracite that aids firing. This process, which is also known as pugmill
Pugmill
A pugmill or pug mill is a machine in which materials are simultaneously ground and mixed with a liquid. Industrial applications are found in pottery, bricks, cement and some parts of the concrete and asphalt mixing processes. A pugmill is a fast continuous mixer. A continuous pugmill can achieve a...
ing, improves the consistency, firing qualities, texture, and colour of the brick. From here, the processed clay can be extruded into a continuous strip and cut with wires, or put into moulds
Molding (process)
Molding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....
or presses (also referred to as forming) to form the clay into its final shape. After the forming or cutting, the bricks must be dried, either in the open air, in drying sheds, or in special drying kilns. When the bricks have been dried, they must then be fired or 'burnt' in a kiln, to give them their final hardness and appearance.
Historical notes
In the past, clay was often transported from the quarry to the brickworks by narrow gauge railway or aerial ropewayRopeway conveyor
A ropeway conveyor or material ropeway is essentially a subtype of gondola lift, from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended....
.
Notable brickworks
- The London Brick CompanyThe London Brick CompanyThe London Brick Company is a leading British manufactuer of bricks. It is owned by Hanson plc.- History :The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill, a developer-architect who built houses in both London and Peterborough...
- Brickworks LimitedBrickworks LimitedBrickworks Limited is a group of Australian companies manufacturing building products, primarily bricks and roof tiles. Brickworks was founded by a number of Sydney brick manufacturers in 1934 in response to the Great Depression...
- Australian brick manufacturer - Evergreen Brickworks