A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

for the manufacturing of bricks, from

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

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. In earlier times bricks were made at

brickfield A brickfield is a field or other open site where bricks are made. Land may be leased by an owner to a brickmaster, by whom the manufacture of bricks may be conducted. Historically, the topsoil was typically removed and the clay beneath was str ...

s, which would be returned to agricultural use after the clay layer was exhausted.

Equipment

Most brickworks have some or all of the following: *A

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

, for firing, or 'burning' the bricks. *Drying

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...

or shed, for drying bricks before firing. *A building or buildings for manufacturing the bricks. *A

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

for clay. *A pugmill or clay preparation plant (see below).

Brick making

Bricks were originally made by hand, and that practice continues in developing countries and with a few specialty suppliers. Large industrial brickworks supply clay from a quarry, moving it by conveyor belt or

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

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, also known as

pugmill A pugmill or pug mill is a machine in which clay or other materials are mixed into a plastic state or a similar machine for the trituration of ore. Industrial applications are found in pottery, bricks, cement and some parts of the concrete and asp ...

ing, improves the consistency, firing qualities, texture, and colour of the brick. From here, the processed clay can either be extruded into a continuous strip and cut with wires, or be 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 - in the open air, in drying sheds, or in special drying kilns. The dried bricks must then be fired or "burnt" in a kiln, to give them their final hardness and appearance. Ziegelei Schwarting

Building blocks of success (10692932653)

In the mid-nineteenth century the development of automated brickmaking machines such as the

Bradley & Craven Ltd Bradley & Craven Ltd was a manufacturing company specializing in brickmaking machinery in Wakefield England. It was founded in 1843 by two young engineers, William Craven and Richard Bradley to manufacture what was then revolutionary machinery for ...

"Stiff-Plastic Brickmaking Machine" revolutionised the brick-manufacturing process. one of the largest single brickworks site in the world able to manufacture one million bricks per day stands on the banks of the Swan River in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Environmental effects

Zigzag brick kilns are recommended over traditional brick kilns because they consume less coal.

Historical notes

In the past, clay was often transported from the quarry to the brickworks by narrow gauge railway or aerial ropeway.

Notable brickworks

* The

London Brick Company The London Brick Company, owned by Forterra plc, is a leading British manufacturer of bricks. History The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill, a developer-architect who built houses in London and Peterborough. In 1889, ...

* Bursledon Brickworks *

Brickworks Limited Brickworks is Australia's largest brick manufacturer, consisting of four divisions – Building Products Australia, Building Products North America, Industrial Property, and Investments. Building Products Australia includes Austral Bricks (th ...

- Australian brick manufacturer *

Evergreen Brickworks The Don Valley Brick Works (often referred to as the Evergreen Brick Works) is a former quarry and industrial site located in the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Don Valley Brick Works operated for nearly 100 years and provided ...

References