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Building

Chapter 16 Materials And Bridges

When we look around in our neighbourhood, we see a number of shops, houses,
roads and footpaths. Have you ever thought how are they built?
Many people help us to build a house.

A number of different materials are used in building a house or any other structure.
Nowadays, the buildings are strong and made of concrete, cement, bricks, iron and
steel. In olden days, houses and other structures were built from wood, straw and
mud. These building materials were environment friendly and easily available.
How are bricks made?
Bricks are the basic and the most common building material used in almost all the
structures.
First of all, clay is dug up and taken to a brick making plant. This clay is pounded with
machines and mixed with water to form a smooth mixture. This mixture is then
poured into a mould shaped like a long rectangle, called a ribbon. A machine cuts the
long ribbon into blocks. These smaller pieces give the size and shape of bricks. The
bricks are finally dried and then fired in a kiln. Once they are cool and become hard,
then they can be used for building. This was the tradi onal way of making bricks.

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