A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, 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. In earlier times bricks were made at brickfields, which would be returned to agricultural use after the clay layer was exhausted.
Most brickworks have some or all of the following:
Bricks were originally made by hand, and that practice continues in developing countries and with a few specialty suppliers.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/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. [1] This process, also known as pugmilling, 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.
In the mid-nineteenth century the development of automated brickmaking machines such as the Bradley & Craven Ltd "Stiff-Plastic Brickmaking Machine" revolutionised the brick-manufacturing process. [2]
As of 2016 [update] 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 in Western Australia. [3]
Zigzag brick kilns are recommended[ by whom? ] over traditional brick kilns because they consume less coal. [4]
In the past,[ when? ] clay was often transported from the quarry to the brickworks by narrow gauge railway or aerial ropeway.
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term brick denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured construction blocks. Bricks can be joined using mortar, adhesives or by interlocking them. Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities.
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 into pottery, tiles and bricks. Various industries use rotary kilns for pyroprocessing—to calcinate ores, to calcinate limestone to lime for cement, and to transform many other materials.
Clinker bricks are partially-vitrified bricks used in the construction of buildings.
Marston Vale is an area of Bedfordshire. It lies to the south west of Bedford and Kempston, near Junction 13 of the M1 motorway. Historically it was one of the main brickmaking districts in England, home of the London Brick Company, now a division of Hanson plc. The brickmaking activity left scars across the landscape of the Marston Vale as large tracts of land were dug for clay. Most of the claypits are now exhausted, and most of the brickmaking chimneys have been demolished. The legacy of the abandoned brickworks also adds to the impression that the Marston Vale has been despoiled by decades of industrial activity and it is now searching for a new identity. In more recent years the local authorities have taken the opportunity to reuse the clay pits for landfills at Stewartby and Brogborough, both of which are recently capped and closed down.
A brickyard or brickfield is a place or yard where bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed near natural sources of clay or on or near a construction site if necessity or design requires the bricks to be made locally.
The Hoffmann kiln is a series of batch process kilns. Hoffmann kilns are the most common kiln used in production of bricks and some other ceramic products. Patented by German Friedrich Hoffmann for brickmaking in 1858, it was later used for lime-burning, and was known as the Hoffmann continuous kiln.
Redland plc was a leading British building materials business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Brickworks is Australia's largest brick manufacturer, consisting of four divisions – Building Products Australia, Building Products North America, Industrial Property, and Investments.
J. Hallett and Son, founded in 1904, was for most of the 20th century South Australia's most important brickmaking firm. Founded by Job H. Hallett in 1889, his son Thomas Hallett became a partner in 1904. There were several sites across Adelaide's western suburbs, with Halletts retaining their identity until the 1960s, when the company was absorbed by the Nubrik Hallett group.
A brickfield is a field or other open site where bricks are made. Historically, the topsoil was typically removed and the clay beneath was stripped and mixed with chalk and ash to make bricks. The field could then be used for horticulture. In Kent it was often planted with fruit trees. Brickfields were mainly created from 1770 to 1881, when a new shaly clay was discovered at Fletton. This period coincided with the housing and railway boom in London and cheap river-transport in Thames sailing barges. Brickfields existed elsewhere, but often the clay layer was deeper or there was no chalk nearby. In modern times bricks are made at a brickworks.
The Brunswick Brick Tile & Pottery Company was established in 1870 on a 12-acre paddock on Albert Street Brunswick, as one of the first modern mechanical brickworks in Australia. It was also known as the Hoffman Patent Brick & Tile Company, Hoffman Brickworks, or just ' Hoffman's' for most of its 100 plus years of operation.
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 automating clay brick production. Their 1853 patented ‘Stiff-Plastic Brickmaking Machine’ in combination with the Hoffman continuous kiln were responsible for changes in the industry which eventually saw a shift from hand craft to mechanized production. Their machines were manufactured at the Westgate Common Foundry in Wakefield and were sold throughout the United Kingdom as well as many oversees markets such as Australia, South Africa and Germany.
The Clackline Refractory, also known as Clackline Clay and Brick, is a heritage listed brickworks site in Clackline, Western Australia.
Newmarket Brickworks Chimney is a heritage-listed brickworks at 117 Mina Parade, Alderley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1912. It is also known as Hoffman Stack. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 March 2000.
Pindi Pindi Brickworks is a heritage-listed former brickworks off the Bruce Highway, Pindi Pindi, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1933. It is also known as Evans Firebricks Ltd and Pindi Pindi Firebricks Company. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 October 2000.
Porth Wen Brickworks first built by Charles E Tidy, is now a disused Victorian brickworks which produced fire bricks, made from quartzite (silica) used to line steel-making furnaces. The substantial remains include a number of buildings and the remains of some of the machinery, but has some damage from sea erosion. The site is a scheduled monument.
The Brickworks Museum, also known as Bursledon Brickworks, is a volunteer-run museum in Swanwick, Hampshire, England. It is purportedly the UK's sole surviving Victorian steam-driven brickworks.
The Lithgow Valley Colliery and Pottery Site is a heritage-listed former pottery and colliery and now pottery and visitor attraction at Bent Street, Lithgow, City of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1876 to 1945. It is also known as Lithgow Pottery and Brickworks. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Maylands Brickworks is a historical brickworks factory in Maylands, Western Australia. It operated between 1927 and 1983.
The Clay Cross Company was founded as George Stephenson and Co. in 1837 by the railway pioneer, George Stephenson. The company established coal mines, ironworks, brickworks and pipe factories at Clay Cross near Chesterfield. The company was closed in 1998.