Landscape Architect Articles

LASN PMBR News June 200406-01-04 | News

Smart Bricks To the Rescue

In June of 2003, www.wired.com reported on the latest ?EUR??,,????'??smart?EUR??,,????'?? technology, in particular a ?EUR??,,????'??smart brick?EUR??,,????'?? developed by Chang Liu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The idea is to place electronic sensors in a brick to monitor the integrity of a brick structure. The monitor brick is simply integrated into the brick wall along with its less specially endowed brick brethren.

The sensors monitor temperature changes and measure vibration and movement that are transmitter to a PC. Wired asked, ?EUR??,,????'??Smart Bricks or a Dumb Idea??EUR??,,????'??

Liu certainly didn?EUR??,,????'???t think it a dumb idea. The technology would, he contended, let people know if it were safe to go into a building following an earth quake. Liu further asserted the sensors could be embedded into various construction material and even foresaw ?EUR??,,????'??spray-on smart skins?EUR??,,????'?? that would wrap around surfaces.

That was a year ago. What?EUR??,,????'???s the latest on the smart brick? Liu is working on the technology with graduate student Jon Engel at the university?EUR??,,????'???s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. The work is funded by the National Science Foundation. Specifically, the sensor unit of the smart brick has within it a ?EUR??,,????'??thermistor, two-axis accelerometer, multiplexer, transmitter, antenna and battery.?EUR??,,????'?? What happens when the battery wears out? Liu explains it could be charged through the brick via an induction coil, a technology already used in electric toothbrushes and in some artificial heart pumps. The researchers are not using esoteric components, but ?EUR??,,????'??off-the shelf?EUR??,,????'?? ones. Engel?EUR??,,????'???s goal or ideal is to integrate the monitoring components onto a single chip and to put the chip on flexible plastic (silicon is too brittle for their purposes).

The smart skins that Liu envisioned a year ago are already emerging. Liu and Engel are using metal films on flexible polymers. The sensor wraps, though not yet wireless like the smart bricks, can, according to Liu, measure roughness, hardness, temperature and conductivity.?EUR??,,????'?? Engel is working on the wireless aspect of the technology.

The inventors see multiple uses for the wireless sensor technology other than for structural integrity: smart toys, for instance, that respond to a child?EUR??,,????'???s touch. Liu believes wireless sensors can be applied to software games. Sensors could be attached to a person?EUR??,,????'???s arms (and or legs) to replace the game joystick.

The expression ?EUR??,,????'??dumb as a rock?EUR??,,????'?? may still be used, but bricks are getting smarter by the day.

Pine Hall Brick to Begin $20 Million Addition

Winston-Salem, NC– Pine Hall Brick will build an addition to its state-of-the-art production facility near Fairmount, GA. Slated for completion by year?EUR??,,????'???s end, construction will begin immediately. The increase in capacity is estimated at 120 million bricks per year and the addition of 20 jobs.

?EUR??,,????'??Making the decision to expand in Gordon County was easy because of the quality of the local area workforce,?EUR??,,????'?? said Fletcher Steele, company president. ?EUR??,,????'??Every day our local employees bring to work a high level of skill and commitment to producing quality products. Their efforts have made our early success possible.?EUR??,,????'??

Pine Hall Brick?EUR??,,????'???s growth is fueled by the stable and growing housing demand in major markets like Atlanta, Chattanooga and Birmingham. With current economic outlook and long-term prospects positive, Steele is confident that the timing is right for the expansion. ?EUR??,,????'??We?EUR??,,????'???re bullish about the future of the company and the future of the economy,?EUR??,,????'?? Steele offered. ?EUR??,,????'??We are a couple of years ahead of our original expansion goals due to the extraordinary welcome we received from the home building industry in the region. Homebuyers in the area love brick homes and we are delighted to have already become a significant supplier of brick to the three-state region near the new plant.?EUR??,,????'??

The construction plan includes the addition of a new kiln and production line to the existing one-kiln plant.

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Brick Industry History

Sixty years ago there were several thousand brick manufacturers with nearly 3,000 brick plants. Today there are 83 manufacturers in the United States, operating 204 plants with the capacity to produce 9-1/2 billion bricks annually.

Source: Brick Industry Association

$20-$35– Cost per square foot of dry-laid materials for retaining walls
Source: www.ext.colostate.edu

20-50%– Relative savings of segmental retaining walls over conventional wall structures.

Source: Federal Highway Administration