Show THE SAND LIME BRICK INDUSTRY A wonderful industry which was to revolutionize lut ionize the manufacture of brick in this country has in recent years been frequently described describe din in the newspapers and trade journals the claim has been made that brick suitable for all purposes could be made from sand with a small addition of lime at a cost far less than that of ordinary brick time has not yet proved the truth of this statement nevertheless according to a paper written by mr S V and included in the annual report on the clay working industries recently published by the united states geological survey the sand lime brick industry seems to have established itself and to have a promising future in certain sections of the united states where clay of good quality is not available but comparatively pure sand is abundant the manufacturers of sand lime brick may reasonably hope for success there are many such localities in michigan wisconsin and other northwestern states also in the south and southwest T there he e are in this country at present fifty r plants lants with a total capacity of proximately approximately ip bricks a day the experience of thee plants indicates that band lime brick can usually be manufactured at a cot below that of common clay brick when however a sand lime brick is ia desired equal to the fine clay front brick the cost of production is naturally increased that of common clay brick sand ime bricks have been in use long enough both in this country and in foreign countries tr es to prove that when properly made they have sufficient strength and sufficient water and weather resisting qualities to make them a safe building material the sand lime brick of today is the natural outcome outcomes of the improvements made in the old mortar brick which has been known for years this mortar brick was at first never more than a molded mixture of lime and sand mortar which was allowed to harden in the air about twenty five or thirty years ago one doctor michaelis patented a process for tha hardening of mixture of lime and sand by team steam under pressure which is the fundamental principle on which the manufacture of sand lime brick is based the commercial development of the industry dates back only fifteen years in foreign countries and not more than four years in the united states in 1896 germany had only five factories where sand lime brick was made but now int has about with an actual annual output of between 0 OCO 1 0 and early in 1901 a plant was bult in michigan city ind in 1902 about 20 plants were in existence and 6 bricks were actually sold full and accurate data are not obtainable as to the actual output in 1903 but about bricks have been reported as sold in that year yea r many of the factories had just ja t start ed and were not manufacturing to their full capacity during the year mr report contains a great many interesting details about the sand lime brick its history and its manufacture he discusses its properties such as porosity crushing strength resistance to weather and to fire and its color he describes its composition and dwells on the conditions essential to success in its manufacture these Jn include clude first suitable raw materials a comparatively pure sand with the preference in favor of a quartz sand and a comparatively ively pure lime of either type with the preference ference in favor of a high calcium lime and secondly adequate machinery which should consist of power and transmission lime preparing machinery mixing apparatus presses hardening cylinders conveyors tracks and trucks A well equipped sand lime brick plant with a capacity of from to bricks in ten to twelve hours will cost independent 0 of f site ite from 20 to mr closes his report with a list of the places in the united states and canada where companies have been incorporated for the manufacture of sand lime brick persons desirous of perusing mr report may procure a copy by writing to the director of the united states geological survey at washington D C for the pamphlet entitled statistics of the clay working industries in the united states in 1903 with which it is published both reports will also be included in the forthcoming volume mineral resources 1903 which the urvey survey has now in press |