Do not sponge the walls. Using a sponge may smear mortar across the face of the brick which can react with the acid during the acid cleaning process and lead to problems. Storage Ensure bricks are stored appropriately (either on pallets or on plastic sheeting), to prevent bricks absorbing ground salts and excessive water, which may cause issues when laid. Copings, Sills, Weathering Stormwater should be shed so as to clear the masonry immediately below. Copings and sills should project at least 10 mm beyond the wall face at the underside of the sill or coping. Where downpipes have not been installed water from the guttering should be diverted away from the brickwork. Laying Recommendations 1. Do not soak bricks prior to laying. The brick pack can be lightly sprayed and allowed to dry initially to reduce the suction of the brick but saturating the brick will lead to problems. 2. Adjust the mortar consistency to match the brick. The mortar for dry pressed bricks needs to be softer than for extruded bricks as the brick will absorb moisture from the mortar quite quickly and reduce the time available for adjustment. 3. Do not make the mix harder than necessary. If M3 mortar is required dont make M4 mortar it will only be more difficult to clean off later. 4. Do not use clayey sand in the mortar. This will be extremely difficult to clean off. 5. Properly fill the prep joints. It makes a stronger wall and reduces excessive water penetration. 6. Cover the top of the wall when rain is expected and until eaves/roofing or coping is installed to prevent excessive water penetration. 7. Clean the job as you go to avoid the need for using hydrochloric acid later. Take more care than normal to ensure no smears or dags of mortar are left to dry on the brickwork. If the use of hydrochloric acid is required to clean mortar from dirty brickwork a lot more work will then be required to remove the resulting vanadium stains. Working with Bricks Brick Technical Manual 25

Design Considerations Brick Technical Manual 80 5.8.3 470mm Long Bricks No. of Bricks No. of Bricks No. of Bricks Length (mm) Length (mm) Length (mm) Opening (mm) Opening (mm) Opening (mm) Brick Properties Brick Technical Manual 81 Design Considerations 5.8.4 Armaclay/Verticore Brick Format Size 315 x 100 x 172mm Manufacturing Size 305 x 90 x 162mm Vertical Gauge 7 courses to 1200 (Bricks per m in wall = 18.5 approx) No. of Bricks Length (mm) Opening Height (mm) (mm) No. of Bricks Length (mm) Opening Height (mm) (mm) No. of Bricks Length (mm) Opening (mm) No. of Length Bricks (mm) No. of Length Bricks (mm) No. of Bricks Length (mm) Design Considerations Brick Technical Manual 82 5.8.5 Face Block Format Size 300 x 100 x 172 Manufacturing Size 290 x 90 x 162 Vertical Gauge 7 courses to 1200 (Bricks per m2 in wall = 19.5 approx) No. of Bricks Length (mm) Opening (mm) Height (mm) No. of Bricks Length (mm) Opening (mm) Height (mm) Design Considerations Brick Technical Manual 83

methods Remove and replace Displacement Excavate weak or undesirable material and replace with better soils Overload weak soils so that they shear and are displaced by stronger fill Any Very soft Limited depth and area where cost-effective; generally  30 ft Problems with mud-waves and trapped compressible soil under the embankment; highly dependent on specific site Water removal methods Trenching Precompression Precompression with vertical drains Electro-osmosis Allows water drainage Loads applied prior to construction to allow soil consolidation Shortens drainage path to speed consolidation Electric current causes water to flow to cathode Soft, fine-grained soils and hydraulic fills Normally consolidated fine-grained soil, organic soil, fills Same as above Normally consolidated silts and silty clay Effective depth up to 10 ft; speed dependent on soil and trench spacing; resulting desiccated crust can improve site mobility Generally economical; long time may be needed to obtain consolidation; effective depth only limited by ability to achieve needed stresses More costly; effective depth usually limited to 100 ft Expensive; relatively fast; usable in confined area; not usable in conductive soils; best for small areas TABLE 6.21 Site Improvement Methods (Continued) Method Technique Principles Suitable soils Remarks