Uploaded on 2015-05-05 by HYoussefA

The building material combines brick and cement (and many others, but I'll focus on these two). Brick in the US is a fairly local resource. According to the Brick Industry Association, there are at least two brick plants located within 500 miles of 49 of the US's top 50 metropolitan areas, including Philadelphia. Most of the cement production, on the other hand, is outside the US: Africa, CIS, Asia and Oceania exceeded US production of cement in every year since 2001 according to the European Cement Bureau (and possibly earlier). This photo, therefore, illustrates both local and global sources of building materials. ![High rises in Philly][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14308570864066796.jpg