Industrial Brick Production VI – Conveyor Belt

Brick production was of great importance in the Lippe area in Germany. The Brick Factory Beerman in Sylbach was one of the many production sites in the area. Opened in 1909 the factory did not introduce machines for industrial brick production until 1922. However, after the factory had changed from coal to oil as energy source, oil prices went up within the oil crisis. The factory had to close in 1979.
By 2001 the former factory has been bought, restored and turned into a museum by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen Lippe. Today the historic machines of the brick factory Beermann are running once more. The industrial process of making bricks can be explored during special presentations at the museum. These presentations include all processes within industrial brick production – from clay mining and transport over rolling and pressing to drying of the blanks and firing. This recording was made during such a public presentation of industrial brick production.
After the fresh clay has been transported unto the second floor of the factory building and put into the box feeder it is fed unto a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt transports the clay into the edge runner on the first floor of the building, where it is rolled. At the conveyor belt employees pick out stones from the clay. In the recording you can hear the conveyor belt, the clay falling unto it and the rumbling of the edge runner next to it.

Sound: Lukas Rabl (The University of Applied Sciences Dortmund)
Photo/Video: Kathinka Engels