05-06-2010, 06:49 PM
I think it was typical in the West that as the country was first settled, buildings were made of wood. After the first, second, or third fire that leveled the entire town, they would switch over to brick. Then in California, at least, they discovered that brick was not very good in an earth quake, so they found ways to reinforce the masonry. What they have done to reinforce the old brick buildings is to cut sections out of the brick walls, put in rebar, and forms, and pour concrete to tie everything together. The concrete tilt up, cinder block , and poured concrete walls have plenty of rebar to reinforce the structure from the foundation to the roof, so that is the material of choice pretty much since WW2. For smaller industrial buildings, steel framing with sheet metal is popular.