@danthesurveyorman: Did you know a modern engineering brick is over 15 times stronger than a 16th-century Tudor brick? 🧱 The history of brickmaking is a fascinating journey of civil engineering, chemistry, and extreme heat. When the Romans left Britain, brickmaking technology vanished for 800 years, forcing builders to literally scavenge ancient Roman ruins for materials. It wasn't until the Tudor period that hand-molded bricks returned, fired in massive, uncontrolled clamp kilns that produced wildly inconsistent results. The real game-changer was the Industrial Revolution. The invention of the Hoffman kiln and steam-powered manufacturing machines allowed builders to consistently heat clay past 900°C. This triggers vitrification, a process that fuses the clay and drastically increases its compressive strength. While an under-fired Tudor brick might only hit 7 MPa, modern Class A engineering bricks are subjected to precisely controlled kilns to achieve a massive 125 MPa minimum strength. Same ingredients, better pizza.. #Brickmaking #ConstructionHistory #IndustrialRevolution #CivilEngineering #ArchitectureHistory

DantheSurveyorMan

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Friday 17 April 2026 10:34:28 GMT