The following article provides brief description of masonry and major types of masonry construction practices based on the available constituent materials.
Evolution of masonry
With the earliest civilisation of mankind, human race developed new construction practices to improve their quality of living. They used the readily available resources such as mud, clay, lime as building materials. In the below picture, the Egyptian scripture indicates the procedure of brick making. Bricks were prepared by mixing mud with water. They were hand-made, shaped in moulds, and dried in the sun for hardening.
The greatest breakthrough came with the industrial revolution, where the machines could produce bricks of desired shapes, sizes and colour. Depending upon geographical location, masonry can be various types based on their available constituent materials. Bricks, blocks and stones are employed in masonry construction. Mortar includes cement or lime binders. Masonry is formed by placing units and mortar, arranged either in a regular or random layout. The function of the mortar is to bind bricks and to fill gaps in and around units.
