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Believe-It-Or-Not, This Was An Interesting Topic
It's mind-boggling to think how many bricks have been laid since the beginning of time. This history of this product goes back a long way and just think of all the big cities throughout history who switched to brick buildings in the beginning of the 20th century. The amount of bricks in New York City alone is almost beyond comprehension.
Before we hear about any history, however, we see a huge chimney being built by the Western Kentuck Energy company. This smokestack stands 450 feet high, has 350,000 bricks along the inside of it and 210,000 pounds of mortar. The inner wall was put in as an addition because the corrosive gases coming out would eat that up outside concrete structure. The power of acid-proof bricks - which are used in many homes in the world - is pretty strong.
After that, we learn the basics of brick-making and its history, from Egyptian mud bricks from mud and straw to what the Greeks and Romans did on to today's formulas. Basically, though, it's always been burned clay, in a nutshell. We learn about Terra Cotta; how the great fire in London in 1666 changed things; how bricks and mortar have changed over the years and how robots now assemble the product, able to stack 20,000 bricks an hour! We even peek into a school for bricklayers. It may look easy, but it's a hard profession to learn.
Who knew bricks could be so interesting?
Before we hear about any history, however, we see a huge chimney being built by the Western Kentuck Energy company. This smokestack stands 450 feet high, has 350,000 bricks along the inside of it and 210,000 pounds of mortar. The inner wall was put in as an addition because the corrosive gases coming out would eat that up outside concrete structure. The power of acid-proof bricks - which are used in many homes in the world - is pretty strong.
After that, we learn the basics of brick-making and its history, from Egyptian mud bricks from mud and straw to what the Greeks and Romans did on to today's formulas. Basically, though, it's always been burned clay, in a nutshell. We learn about Terra Cotta; how the great fire in London in 1666 changed things; how bricks and mortar have changed over the years and how robots now assemble the product, able to stack 20,000 bricks an hour! We even peek into a school for bricklayers. It may look easy, but it's a hard profession to learn.
Who knew bricks could be so interesting?
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- ccthemovieman-1
- Apr 18, 2008
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