Prinsiptek Corporation Berhad / Nur Athirah Mohd Ali

Bricks are blocks of clay that have been hardened through being fired in a kiln or dried in the sun. As the time passes by, kiln-fired bricks have become more popular than sun-dried bricks, although both are still found worldwide. Sun-dried bricks is a method where they lay up the bricks and let the from the sun dried the bricks. Bricks have been used since the early days to build any structure. The Roman Legions first brought bricks to Britain, using mobile kilns to construct roads, aqueducts and buildings across the country. Bricks were especially favored in the 18th and 19th Centuries, although their use has declined over the last 50 years due to the increased availability of cement and concrete. From the past, bricks came in many different shapes and sizes,
but today's modern bricks tend to be a standard size. They have a wide variety of textures, colours and finishes from yellows, reds and purples, to smooth, rough and rustic. These are due to the mineral variations found in the clay, and the method of manufacturing. Different kind of soil or clay used will produce different types of bricks. Bricks are traditionally manufactured by mixing clay with enough water to form a mud that is then poured into a mold of the desired shape and size, and hardened through fire or sun. Modern methods of brick manufacture are
highly mechanized and automated procedures. The bricks are then dried and slow fired at around 1000 - 1200° C.