A long time ago, there was a block....

Early History of Blocks

Concrete mortar was used by the Romans as early as 200 B.C. to bind shaped stones together in the construction of buildings. During the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula, in 37-41 A.D. , small blocks of precast concrete were used as a construction material in the region around present-day Naples, Italy. Much of the concrete technology developed by the Romans was lost after the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. It was not until 1824 that the English stonemason Joseph Aspdin developed portland cement, which became one of the key components of modern concrete.

In the United States, the first hollow concrete block was designed in 1890 by Harmon S. Palmer. After 10 years of experimenting, Palmer patented the design in 1900. Concrete blocks were first used in the United States as a substitute for stone or wood in the building of homes. The earliest known example of a house built in this country entirely of concrete block was in 1837 on Staten Island, New York. The homes built of concrete blocks showed a creative use of common inexpensive materials made to look like the more expensive and traditional wood-framed stone masonry building. This new type of construction became a popular form of house building in the early 1900s through the 1920s.

These early blocks were usually cast by hand, and the average output was about 10 blocks per person per hour. Today, concrete block manufacturing is a highly automated process that can produce up to 2,000 blocks per hour.

Blocks, Blocks, Blocks

A ‘block’ or a ‘concrete block’ is primarily used as a building material in the construction of walls. Sometimes called a concrete masonry unit (CMU), a concrete block is one of several precast concrete products used in construction. The term ‘precast’ refers to the fact that the blocks are formed and hardened before they are brought to the job site. Most concrete blocks have one or more hollow cavities and their sides may be cast smooth or with a design. In use, concrete blocks are stacked one at a time and held together with fresh concrete mortar to form the desired length and height of the wall.

History of Brick

ASIA

   
  The oldest bricks were originally made from shaped mud before 7500 B.C. They were first found at Tell Aswad following by upper Tigris region and southeast Anatolia close to Diyarbakir. There were some recent findings at Jericho and Catal Huyuk dated between 7000 and 6395 B.C. The first sun-dried bricks were made in Mesopotamia (Iraq) in the ancient city of Ur in about 4000B.C. Besides Iraqian, ancient Egyptians and Indus Valley Civilization also used mud brick. This can be proven from the ruins of Buhen, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.

   In pre-modern China, brick-manufacturing was a lowly and unskilled artisan’s job. However, the kiln master was respected. The kiln master had to make sure the temperature inside the kiln stayed at a level which caused the clay to shimmer with molten gold colour or silver colour. Besides, he needed to know when to quench the kiln in order to produce the surface glaze. The laborers did the less skilled works.

Stages of brick production:

1     Mix water and clay

2    Trample the mixture into a thick paste by driving oxen over it

3     Scoop the paste into wooden frames standardized with roughly 42cm long,20cm wide and 10cm     thick.

4    Smooth the surfaces with wire-strung bow

5    Remove it from wooden frames

6    Print the fronts and backs with stamps to show the company and place of production

7    Load the kiln with fuel

8    Stack the bricks in the kiln

9    Remove it to cool while the kins were still hot

10.Bundle it into pallets for transportation

  
  Early traces of bricks in China were found at a ruin site in Xi’an dated about 3800 years ago. The earliest bricks made by fired process appeared about 3000 years ago in Western Zhou dynasty. The glazing techniques used for bricks was found in Song Dynasty.

EUROPE

  The history of bricks in Europe was begun in the 12^th century with the re-introduction of bricks from Nothern-Western Italy to Northern Germany. It was called brick Gothic which is a reduced style of Gothic Architecture flourished in Nothern Europe. Brick Gothic buildings built amost of bricks can be found in Denmark, Germany, Poland and Russia. During the Renaissance and Baroque, brickwork covered with plaster was popular but not visible brick walls. Only in the middle of 18^th century, visible brick walls regained some popularity.

  Bricks were often used due to speed and economy. The building of Britain’s Industrial Revolution were constructed of bricks and timber because of  the demand. In the 19^th century, locally made bricks were used in construction in Boston and New York in preference to the brownstones of New Jersey and Connecticut.

   In the beginning of 19^th century, the trend of building upwards for office emerged. Some early skyscrapers were made in masonry such as Monadnock Bulding in Chicago. Brick uses was brought back for high structures in the 1950s working by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Building Research Establishment in United Kingdom. This way produced 18 stories structures with bearing walls not thicker than a single brick and it was not fully developed due to the ease and speed in building using other materials. So, in the late 20^th century, brick was limited in building low or medium rise structures.

 

What is brick?

   ‘Brick’ this single word is familiar to every one of us. When we hear this word, we can usually link it to houses or some other buildings. So, we should increase our understanding and knowledge on this important material in construction.

It is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction which is a building of structures from individual unit laid in mortar.  It is one of the strongest and longest lasting building materials used throughout history. As we know, it has great history which can be divided into 2 parts include Asia and Europe.

INTRODUCTION

  In constructing a building, there are various kind of building materials to be reviewed and  used . Building material is one of the factor to determine the safety of the whole building structure and the appearance of certain building. As students who study about the construction, we need to know and understand more about building materials. There are some important properties of building materials such as density and specific gravity,strength,optical properties,electrical properties,thermal properties and insulation,acoustic properties,deformations,deterioration and appearance. Gaining more knowledge on these properties would allow us to select the suitable building materials to be used in constructing a building. In this blog, the information of building materials such as concrete,bricks and blocks and stones will be posted. We sincerely hope that you all can give support to our blog and gain the knowledge at the same time. Thank you. =)

   






                                                             









                 CONCRETE       
 

 

                                                                                                                BRICKS

                                                          

                                                                       

                             BLOCKS

                                         

                                                           STONES