New technology for making clay bricks

A NEW technology in brick manufacturing has been introduced to South Africa at a site along a small dirt road between Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp.

Kouga's third-generation family- owned brickmakers, Langkloof Bricks, has become the first South African clay brick manufacturer to implement the vertical shaft brick kiln (VSBK) technology and yesterday celebrated the final roll-out of the second phase of the technology at their factory.

Langkloof Bricks executive director Nico Blake said while some people told him "the backyard" technology would never work, he knew the technology had already been proven overseas and the challenge would be to make it commercially viable in South Africa.

Blake said by using this firing technology the production time had been reduced from three months with the previous clamp production process to 24 hours with the VSBK.

In addition, the company had halved the amount of coal used as a firing method, as well as improving the attendance levels and upskilling of the 180 workers at the factory.

These benefits have now been adopted by the rest of the clay brickmaking industry, with two other brick manufacturers, based in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, incorporating the same technology at their factories.

The energy-efficient clay brick project had also been established to promote the technology in the country, which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) and implemented by Swiss Contact.

Blake yesterday said he was very grateful for the contribution the Swiss government had made by introducing the technology in the country and at Langkloof Bricks.

Swiss ambassador Christian Meuwly, who attended the new generation VSBK launch yesterday, said the facility was one of the most energy-efficient brickmaking factories in the world.

"We want to remain a partner on the journey to mitigate climate change in a way that makes sense for business," Meuwly said.

Blake said he and his brother, Pieter, had started investigating VSBK in 2007.

"We realised we needed to be more efficient to survive," he said. - Cindy Preller