
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995                   TAG: 9503310074
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

OLD VIRGINIA BRICK BUYS PLANT TO DOUBLE ITS OUTPUT CAPACITY

USING A NEW PROCESS, which produces extruded bricks instead of molded ones, will be less costly in several ways for Old Virginia Brick of Salem.

One of the nation's oldest brick makers has found a new niche with the acquisition of a manufacturing plant that will nearly double its capacity.

Old Virginia Brick Co. Inc. of Salem said Thursday it has bought a Boral Industries of Australia plant in the Lynchburg suburb of Madison Heights. Old Virginia officials would not disclose details of the transaction.

The Madison Heights plant specializes in producing extruded bricks, so it will be a change of pace for Old Virginia, which produces mostly molded bricks using a more costly process.

Extruded bricks are formed from a column of clay forced through a machine. Bricks then are cut to size by wire cutters, said customer service manager and co-owner Lou Showalter. Fletcher Smoak, company chief executive and president, said about four workers can operate the brick-making process from one extruder, compared with 15 workers in the traditional molding process.

In the molding process, clay is shaped in wooden molds. Smoak said it also takes longer for molded bricks to dry. "It takes a lot of hand work," Smoak said.

With the new plant, Old Virginia can make 15,000 more extruded bricks per hour with the same size labor force it uses now to make molded bricks, Smoak said.

Old Virginia produces 38 million to 39 million bricks per year, including 6 million to 8 million extruded bricks. With the Madison Heights plant, Smoke said, the company could produce up to 50 million extruded bricks per year.

About 94 percent of bricks manufactured in the United States are extruded, Smoak said.

The company plans to start the Madison Heights plant at half speed, producing about 31 million to 32 million extruded bricks per year. Smoak said the plant may not begin production until June.

"We are behind schedule," he said. The company had hoped to make the acquisition in mid-February, but fell behind because of delays in environmental testing and other problems.

Old Virginia employs about 100 hourly and salaried workers. Smoak said about five or six employees will transfer to Madison Heights, for a total of about 40 employees at the new plant.

The 105-year-old company specializes in producing bricks for historical preservation projects and in reproduction of buildings for historic areas. It has provided bricks used in Colonial Williamsburg and at the College of William and Mary, University of Virginia, Roanoke College and University of Richmond.

by CNB