Pebbles, vegetable and organic matter, excess lime, iron pyrites,

sulphates of calcium and potassium

are harmful.
Manufacture of bricks involves preparation of clay, moulding, drying
and burning processes.
1. Preparation of clay: It involves unsoling, digging, cleaning,
weathering, blending and
tempering; pug mills are used for tempering.
2. Moulding: It may be by hand moulding or by machine moulding.
3. Drying: It may be by natural drying or by artificial drying.
4. Burning: It may be in clamps or in kilns. Intermittent and
continuous kilns are used depending
upon the demand in the locality. Bulls trench kiln, Hoffmans kiln and
Tunnel kilns are the
continuous kilns.
Classification of Bricks
1. Based on strength, bricks are classified as class 3.5, 5.0, etc. to mean
compressive strength is 3.5
N/mm2, 5.0 N/mm2, etc. Each class is subdivided into A and B on the
basis of tolerances in sizes.
2. However, in practice the bricks are classified as first, second, third