IMPROVEMENTS IN WOOD PAVING WITH OR WITHOUT RAILS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WOOD PAVING
WITH OR WITHOUT RAILS."-A communication from abroad by Samuel
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th September 1870.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WOOD PAVING WITH
OR WITHOUT RAILS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate in the first place to the wood paving
without rails, and in the second place to wood paving used in connection
with rails for running carriages upon, and in the third place to the
means employed for securely fastening the blocks together in one solid

page_text: form. After the surface of the road has been levelled or prepared to
receive the wood paving it is to be covered with planks laid longi-
tudinally or transversely. The wooden planks are made of appropriate
thickness, and well soaked in some preserving material.
In some cases this first series of planks is covered with a second layer
prepared in the same manner with a preserving material. Upon this
foundation of the road the wooden blocks which form the paving are
arranged with the end of the grain upwards, and these blocks are
fastened by diagonal spikes or treenails to the foundation of planking.
Between the wooden blocks are left spaces formed by placing planks on
edge and equal in depth to about one half of the height of the wooden
blocks. The blocks themselves are also fastened with spikes or treenails
to the upright separating planks as well as to the foundation..
Another improvement consists in forming the foundation with
cellular or other iron frames supported by one or more thicknesses of
planking at the junction, in which frames are deposited the wooden
blocks leaving a certain space on two sides of them. These spaces, as
also the spaces left in the first described plan between the wooden blocks,
are filled up with gravel or stone mixed with tar, asphalte, or other
adhesive substance. Where rails are employed they are made with a
flat shoulder, which whilst it offers the same advantage that the ordinary
rail gives to the carriage wheel offers less resistance to the crossing of
ordinary vehicles. The rail is supported by longitudinal sleepers laid
in with the wood blocks, and in this case it is preferred to use the double
planking foundation as described, to which the rails should be trenailed
or spiked. The gutters on each side are formed with triangular or
diagonal balks of timber laid in contact with the curb throughout
the length of the road. At the intersection of two roads or ways the
pavement is divided into four rectangular sections or parts in which the
blocks are arranged diagonally or parallel to lines drawn from the four
corners of the intersection and crossing in the middle thereof. When
the wooden surface is completed it is covered entirely with asphalte, tar,
or pitch with hot gravel, the whole being made smooth and even in any
convenient manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th March 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors,, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should, and lawfully might make,.
use, exercise, and vend. within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS. IN WOOD PAVING WITH OB WITHOUT RAILS," being a com-
munication to me from abroad by Samuel Norris, of 13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition. (amongst others)
that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what-manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascor-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed,, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
In order that the improvements be better understood I will proceed to
describe them coniointly with the five Figures of the accompanying

page_text: Drawing in which the three first relate to an ordinary way or road, and
the two others to a road of the same construction fitted with rails.
Ordinary Road.-Fig. 1 is a plan of the road; Fig. 2 an elevation in
cross section, and Fig. 3 a partial longitudinal section on a larger scale.
Following this system I arrange in the first place and as a foundation a
series of planks A of pine or other appropriate wood with the grain
following the direction of the road so as to cover the soil entirely,
underneath the ends of each length of planks or flooring, or oftener if
desired, I place suitable cross bearers or sleepers to support the same as
represented at H, Fig. 1, I then cover these planks and also the sleepers
if desired with a coat of tar or other preserving material. I then place
the blocks B forming the road proper with their ends up, the grain of the
wood running up and down, these blocks can vary in thickness and length
according to circumstances, and I place between the blocks, pickets
or strips of wood C of appropriate thickness, and to about half the
height of the blocks. This work takes place as follows:-Commencing
at one extremity of the road a range of the blocks B is placed across
the road from one side to the other, having before placing them taken
care to steep them to about half their depth into a bath of asphalte, tar,
or other appropriate preserving matter, then a row of pickets or strips C
is placed and fixed to the blocks and foundation by the nails or pins e
driven diagonally into the three pieces, see Fig. 3, and the work is
continued thus to the length required. The interstices D are then filled
in over the pickets or strips C between the blocks with gravel or other
suitable material, and before putting in this gravel it is heated to a tem-
perature of from twenty-five to fifty degrees centigrade, and whilst still hot.
asphalte, tar, or other suitable material of about the same degree of heat
is poured upon it until there is no more space left in the interstices D,
the mass of stone and tar is then rammed with a bar of iron suitable to
enter between the blocks. The road is then entirely covered with a coat
of asphalte and tar, and after being powdered with sand it is ready
for use.
Two other important points remain to be described relative to this
new road, the first in respect to the formation of the gutters for the
water on each side of the road; I make these gutters by the aid of the
blocks G¹ coming in contact with the kerb F. The second relates to
the placing of the pavement at the intersection of two roads or ways,

page_text: This arrangement
which X, X, repre-
and this is done by drawing diagonal lines from the four corners of inter-
section, and in placing the blocks B in the four rectangular spaces thus
formed, following an oblique direction in relation to those of the road,
serving as the case to the said rectangular spaces.
will be clearly understood by reference to Fig. 1, in
sent the road, and Z, Z, a quadrangular space in which latter the blocks
present an angle of about forty-five degrees with those of the road X, X.
By this arrangement a carriage in turning from one way to another at
right angles or in crossing this intersection will pass transversely over
the blocks; in this case the horses always have a sufficient purchase for
the feet, and the track of the wheels never follows a line parallel with
the spaces between the blocks.
Road with Iron Rails.-Fig. 4 is a plan in perspective, and Fig. 5 a
transverse elevation in section of this construction. As will be seen in
these two Figures the road proper formed by the parts A, B, C, D,
and e remains the same, only in this case I prefer to double the foundation
planks A, A, by passing under them a transversal series A¹ of similar
planks which ought to be tarred or preserved as before explained; these
planks A and A¹ are prolonged upon each side of the road sufficiently
to receive the longitudinal sleepers I, I, upon which are pinned the
rails K, K, and these sleepers are fixed to the road proper by the nails 1, 1,
driven vertically through the sleepers into the planks A and A', as well
as by the nails m, m, driven horizontally across the sleepers into the
blocks B. I can also use either for replacing the nails m, m, or in addition
to them horizontal bolts or tie rods n, n, passing transversely across the
entire road with a screw at the end to consolidate the whole together,
see dotted lines, Fig. 4. If found advisable a double course of foundation
planks A, A', can be used for common roads to insure greater durability
like the one described to be used under the railway. This pavement is
adapted to side walks, bridges, courts, yards, or any place where it is
desirable to cover the surface thereof with a smooth and durable material.
Having thus explained the nature of the improvements and the best
means that I am acquainted with to carry the same into practice, I
claim,―
Firstly. The construction of a wooden pavement as above described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings adapted for an ordinary
road or way side, walks, court yards, or any place where it is desirable
to cover the surface thereof with a smooth and durable material.

page_text: And secondly. The construction of a wooden pavement conjointly.
with iron rails as above described, and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-.
unto set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
W. E.. NEWTON.. (L.S.).