brickworks

File:Puolimatkan tiilitehdas.jpg, Tampere, Finland, in the 1960s]]

Most brickworks have some or all of the following:

• A kiln, for firing, or 'burning' the bricks.
• Drying yard or shed, for drying bricks before firing.
• A building or buildings for manufacturing the bricks.
• A quarry for clay.
• A pugmill or clay preparation plant (see below).

{{Main|Brick}}

Bricks were originally made by hand, and that practice continues in developing countries and with a few specialty suppliers.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.

Compare:

{{oed | breeze}} - "breeze, n.3 [...] Small cinders and cinder-dust, used in burning bricks, etc.; small coke and coke-dust."

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.

File:Ziegelei Schwarting.jpg, the tall chimney of the kiln visible, 1890]]

File:Ciglana EKO Međimurje - stovarište.jpg]]

File:Brick production in Songea, Tanzania.jpg, Tanzania]]

File:Building blocks of success (10692932653).jpg

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.The First Hundred Years: the Early History of Bradley & Craven, Limited, Wakefield, England by Bradley & Craven Ltd (1963)

{{As of|2016}}, 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.

[https://www.midlandbrick.com.au/Resources/Blog/October-2016/Celebrating-70-Years Celebrating 70 Years] - "70 years on from our modest beginnings we have grown into one of the largest brickworks, employing the skills and talent of hundreds of West Australians in making the best bricks in the world."

Zigzag brick kilns are recommended{{by who|date=October 2022}} over traditional brick kilns because they consume less coal.[https://cdn.cseindia.org/docs/photogallery/slideshows/TP-cleaner-brick-production-20171211-15-Understanding-Zig-Zag-Sonal-Kumar-and-Rahul-Kumar.pdf Understanding Zig Zag Kilns]

In the past,{{when?|date=May 2019}} clay was often transported from the quarry to the brickworks by narrow gauge railway or aerial ropeway.

• The London Brick Company
• Bursledon Brickworks{{cite web|url=http://www.bursledonbrickworks.org.uk/page.php?pageid=15|title=The History|website=www.bursledonbrickworks.org.uk|publisher=Bursledon Brickworks Industrial Museum|access-date=14 October 2015|author=Bursledon Brickworks Industrial Museum}}{{cite web|url = http://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/things-to-do/bursledon-brickworks-museum-p54783|access-date=14 October 2015|author=Visit Hampshire |title=Bursledon Brickworks Museum}}
• Evergreen Brickworks

{{Commons category}}

• {{annotated link|Brick clamp}}
• {{annotated link|Brickfield}}
• {{annotated link|Brickyard}}
• {{annotated link|Masonry}}
• {{annotated link|Program on Energy Efficiency in Artisanal Brick Kilns in Latin America to Mitigate Climate Change}}

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Category:Molding processes

Category:Manufacturing plants

Category:Bricks

Category:Firing techniques