In India the major component used in construction is brick walls. Bricks normally used for this purpose are of size 9" x 4" x 3" due to this normally all main walls are 9" thick.

Places where 9" Semi hollow brick wall can be used :-

1. In multistoried framed R.C.C construction brick walls. Here walls are used as filler and non load bearing walls.In this not only do we save by reduction in cost of brick work but the weight of wall on beams and columns is also reduced thus helping in designing them more economically.
2. In boundary walls here again the loading is nominal.
3. In single storeyed structures in combination with solid walls in between to take the critical weights of slabs.
4. For site offices, labour rooms etc. That is where temporary structures with sheeting are created.

Benefits :-

1. Savings in cost of bricks and mortar from 15% to 22%.
2. Savings in cost of R.C.C elements in framed structures due to reduced loading.

The procedure for constructing these walls is given below.

The brick is placed along the wall keeping its Length = 9", Width = 3", Height = 4".

The bricks are placed in the pattern shown in Figure -2 . Here the bricks are placed rotated such that each layer is 4.5" high. The first brick marked (A) is placed perpendicular to the length of the wall as a starter.Then two bricks marked ( B) are laid along the length of the wall with gap of one brick in between them as shown in figure - 2. The same pattern is repeated along the length. In the next layer the pattern is shifted to the mid of bricks (B). thus

shifting of joints as shown in the perspective in Figure - 1.