Brick Kiln
Road to Basrah, Iraq  2002

      Traveling south to Basrah from Baghdad, there were many brick kilns dotting the landscape. Since the economy has been devastated due to sanctions, it has been hard to import other types of building materials. However, Iraq has plenty of raw materials for bricks including clay, sand, oil to fire the kilns and cheap labor. Therefore, bricks form the backbone of most new construction. Unfortunately, the kilns are not efficient and pollution spews into the air.

CSpaulding
January 2003