Pilgrimage to Mecca

For me, as a masonry designer
my Mecca and my pilgrimage
was indeed one of the finer
trips I took of a curious age.

To Alpena, Michigan
and Besser Headquarters
is all I could ever wish again
to see them take their orders.

Their excellent concrete block machines
in over a hundred countries
producing block ‘round the clock it seems
mixers, makers and sundries.

Provided by this one great company
for concrete manufacturing
their own equipment will trump any
the history from which they spring!

In the basement of their museum
I snuck down to the old machine
when I knew they couldn’t see ‘em,
I played with levers seldom seen.

What intrigued me the very most
was the odd, weird, and eerie sensation
by the machine stood Besser’s ghost:
offering me faint congratulation.

Manufacturing Block

State-of-the-art block manufacturing has evolved to a very high state of efficiency over the years.

Here in the US, two of the largest and better known block machine manufacturers are Besser Block and Columbia. Both of these companies have a global reach, and influence block manufacturing on a large scale.

If you've never seen a block machine in action, it's really something to behold. So much power, efficiency and speed both instantly and endlessly putting out block. The level of automation in a modern plant is amazing; the block are practically never touched by hand.

Here is a decent video from an Italian machine and plant manufacturer, Rosacometta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctR-9hnD_B8

I hope I've set the stage for a basic understanding of modern masonry. Tomorrow I'll start describing some of my own technology.