how to dig and construct a brick-lined well

 Dutch bricks made for well lining have a trapezoidal shape, with sloping sides so that they can be fitted into a ring.

 

Create a Guide: Use a cast-iron or steel ring as a guide, or start by building a circle of bricks on the surface, with a diameter 4 inches greater than the casing.

Excavate: Dig inside the ring/circle to a shallow depth, such as 2–3 feet.

Build the Wall: As the soil is removed, the heavy structure will slowly sink. Continuously add bricks (using cement or mortar) to the top of the ring to raise the height.

Repeat: Repeat the digging and brick-laying process until the well reaches the desired water table.

Secure the Structure: Use Trapezoidal "Dutch" bricks, which are designed to fit together in a ring, ensuring a stable, safe structure

 

 Cement brick linings are stronger, unlikely to deform, and the courses can be linked structurally.

 many people opt for pre-cast concrete rings rather than bricks, allowing the heavy rings to sink under their own weight during excavation.

 Then, you begin digging out the center of the ring, gradually undermining it. As it sinks, you start building the brick lining on top of the ring, ABOVE ground. You keep this up, and the lining sinks under its own weight as you dig, sliding into the ground. Soon, you have one person digging at the bottom... and another up top, adding the bricks and emptying the buckets of dirt. Eventually the water starts coming in, and you keep digging until you can't continue. He said that the farmers typically waited until until the dry season - the dryer the better... that way, they could be sure that they would have water year round. If they were then hit with a long-term drought, they could use the opportunity to dig existing wells even deeper, by simply starting up the process again - send one person down the hole to dig, and have another up top adding bricks. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick-lined_well#:~:text=Dutch%20bricks%20made%20for%20well,fear%20of%20the%20walls%20collapsing. 

https://www.quora.com/How-were-water-wells-dug-throughout-history-up-to-and-including-in-the-ancient-world-without-modern-day-auger-equipment-How-were-these-wells-constructed-without-collapsing-in-upon-themselves 

 He went 30 ft deep, belled out to 15 ft wide at the bottom, all solid blue rock. He would drill 1.5" holes in the rock with a big electric drill motor, then stuff a half stick of dynamite in the hole with a blast cap and fuse, pack the hole full of mud clay, and light it. Not a single rock would exit the top since the dynamite blew down, fragmenting the rock which was then taken out via a cable and bucket system Dad built. It took over a year to finish. He ran all the gutters from our house into it and it stayed full up to 6 ft from the top almost year round. We watered our hogs and cattle from it for years but did not use for our domestic human use, and it still holds water.

 https://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/threads/ot-hand-dug-wells-brick-lined.1242763/#:~:text=Well%20Construction%20Method:%20One%20method%20described%20for,wider%20at%20the%20bottom%20than%20the%20top.

 There is a story in the Foxfire books that an old welldigger told. It's well worth reading - I remember he said that when you are in the bottom and look up, the circle of daylight at the top looks as big as a dime. And then there was the time some smart alec pitched a cat in with him. I think he was forced to kill the cat - it was all over him - and when he finally got out the cat pitcher was long gone.

  cast round concrete curbing.

 Getting the bricks started was the hard part while water was running in. Said he wouldn't ever do it again.

My Uncle told me that they would use the steel rings off of wooden wheels and lower it down as you dug to make sure the whole was round. Then as you went deeper you always made sure the dirt bucket was in the center of the hole. This told you that you were digging straight down and not at an angle. My uncle had the old home made wooden hoist they used to lower the buckets up and down with. One full bucket of dirt would come up while the empty was going down. Then just the opposite with the bricks. Full buckets going down with empties coming up.

 Lone behold when he got down deep enough there was flammable gas that was heavier than air that had settled into the well. It ignited -exploded and killed the man. So be careful when going into a well. 

 Modern "Dutch self-locking bricks" use trapezoidal or similar interlocking shapes, allowing for quick, mortar-free construction with vertical safety clips

 Using 3/4" square rebar for ladder rungs is effective, with 45-degree angled placement often satisfying safety standards. For concrete/CMU well walls, rungs are typically embedded during construction by passing through hollow cells, followed by poured concrete/grout, or secured into drilled holes with anchoring epoxy

New Construction (Cast-in-Place or CMU)

• Placement: Insert rebar rungs into the CMU cells or formwork before pouring concrete.
• Securing: Wire the rebar rungs to vertical reinforcement steel to keep them in place.
• Pouring: Pour concrete or grout into the cells around the rebar, ensuring they are securely anchored.
• Safety: