238 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Junk, 



CONSTRUCTION OF PIERS, ETC. 



Lawrence Holker Potts, of Greenwich, Kent, Doctor of Meilieine, for 

 " Improvements hi the construction of piers, embankments, breakwaters, and other 

 similar s/ruc/mes."— Granted Dei ember 5, 1843 ; enrolled June 5, IS")*. 



Tliis invention is divideil into four parts, and consists firstly in the appli- 

 cation of holloH' piles of iron in the construction of piers, embanKments, 

 breakivaters. Ike, «liieh piles may be of a circular or oilier convenient form, 

 and are sunk by wiibdrawinfi from their interior the sand and other matter 

 occupying the space upon which they sand. Secondly, in the application 

 of skeleton frames or cases in connexion with hollow piles. Thinlly, in 

 forcing cr inji cling by hydraulic pressure around the feet of the piles such 

 chemical solutions as will solidify or consolidate the sand or other matter 

 upon which they stand ; and fourthly, in the application of cements in a 

 state of dry powder. «hich cements are intended to solidiiy under water, and 

 form an artificial rock. 



The mode of driving hollow piles, as related in the first part of the speci- 

 fication, is as follows. A hollow pile is provided, open at both ends; pre- 

 suming the place in which it is to be driven be of a sandy nature and 

 covered with water, the pile is placed on one end in its destined place, such 

 end being open, the upper end being closed by an air-tight lid or cover and 

 connected by means of a pipe with a receiver. Another pipe also branches 

 off from the receiver anil is connected with a three-barrelled air pump, 

 which on being set to work exhausts the air from the lioUow pile and raises 

 the sand and water from the Ijottom thereof, and thereby causes it to sink 

 to the depth required, the sand and water passing through the pipe which is 

 connected to the top of the pier or pile and into the receiver, w'hich can be 

 emptied as occasion may require. 



In some desrr ptions of soil the inventor states that it will be found neces- 

 sary to lorsen the soil, «hichmay be done by passing an instrument down 

 the pile adopted for the purpose, and should it be required water may be 

 applied in the same manner. When the piles meet with a hard substancg 

 the inventor proceeds to sink them by boring down the tube in the manner 

 of boring Artesian wells. 



When the piles to be driven are of large diameter the same mode of 

 driving may be adopted, by the application of a moveable tube, which the 

 inventor calls an "elephant or operating trunk," which will be scon in the 

 annexed sketch, and marked Fig. 1, in which a a. Is the pile intended to be 



driven, by removing in the 

 '^' ■ manner above described, the 



sand and water as it accumu- 

 lates, 'ihe sand and water 

 being raised through the ope- 

 rating trunk bb, which is con- 

 nected at its outer extremity 

 by means of a fie.'iible tube to 

 a receiver, from which the air 

 is exhausted by the air-pumps, 

 the operating trunk being 

 guided by a man, who, for the 

 sake of security against the 

 bursting-up of the, loose sand 

 stands in a tub or " cobble,'' 

 where he is enabled to move 

 the operating trunk round the 

 foot of the pile. 



In order to secure the piles, 

 which may he driven at any 

 convenient distance from each 

 other, the inventor employs 

 what he terms skeleton frames, 

 two of which are shown at 

 Figs. 2 8i 3 ; these (rames are 

 cast with holes to receive the 

 ends of the piles, so that when 

 applied they embrace and bend 

 the whole together. After the piles have been sunk they may be « holly or 

 partly filled up with rubble stones or concrete, but belore doing so, should 

 the soli be of a yielding nature, it will be necessary to consolidate it, which 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3. 



oooooo 



the inventor does by forcing or pouring down the hollow piles such chemical 



solutions as the nature of the soil may require, which may be ascertained by 

 analysing a small portion of it, and according as silicious or calcarious 

 mailers predominate, it will be ascertained what chemical substances will be 

 best calculated to consolidate and solidify the same. 



Another mode of forming piers and such like structures is represented at 

 Fig. 4, in which view a a represents the end vieiv of a rectangular or oblong 



Fig. 4. Fig. 6. 



trunk, one side of which is attached by bolts bb ; cc are bolts which screw 

 on to the end of the tie bolts dd. In constructing a pier a number of these 

 trunks are placed side by side as ///, Fig. 5, and at a distance apart, de- 

 pending upon the width of the pier, being bound together by the bolts d d d. 

 The whole being firmly fixed, the space between the two rows of iron trunks 

 is filled up with lime stones, and other matters, which are to be cemented 

 together so as to form one mass of artificial ruck. When the mass has be- 

 come sufficiently set, the bolts c c, may be loosened, and the parts a a, of the 

 trunks removed, leaving the plates a' and the tie bolts standing. 



The cements to be used in a dry state, are those known as hydraulic ce- 

 ments, and may be used alone or mixed with stones, sand or shingle, and 

 may be delivered at the foot of the pile or other structure by means of a 

 hopper having a tube leading from it to the structure intended to be cemented, 

 at which place the cement mixes with the water and consolidates the whole 

 mass. 



WOOD PAVING. 



John Bishop, of Poland Street, Westminster, Jeweller, ffor " Improvements 

 in paving roads, streets, and other places." — Granted December 8, 1843 ; En- 

 rolled June 8, 1844. 



This invention consists in combining blocks of wood together so as to form 

 a surface or covering for the streets, road or other way, in efl'ecting which it 

 will be necessary when using blocks of the description hereinafter mentioned, 

 to have them all of the same size except at tire edges of the street, at which 

 place filling pieces in some cases will be required. 



Fig.-. Fig.l. Fig. 2. 



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Tiff. e.. 



Jf 



(I 



m 



1 — r 



T 1 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 1 shows a plan of one of these blocks, and figs. 2 and 3 two edge view 

 of the same ; each of the blocks consisting of two pieces a and b, which form 

 an upper and under surface, and of equal sizes. These two pieces forming 

 the upper and under surface are fiimly fixed together so as to cross and overlap 

 each other as shown in the plan view, the part overlapping being in all cases 

 less than half the widlh of the block in the narrowest part. The severa 

 blocks when constructed as above described, and represented In the drawing 

 form a surface by partly joining side to side and partly side to end. Fig. 4 

 shows an edge view of five of the bincks, and a filling piece joined together, 

 and overlapping each other. Instead of cutting the block square at the side 

 or edges, as represented in the foregoing, the same may be formed with be- 

 velled edges of any desired angle, as shown at figs. 6, G'. Fig. 7 shows a 

 plan view of a cast iron curb and gutter, which constitutes the second part 

 of these improvements. Fig. 8 being an end view of the same, and shown as 



