IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADWAYS AND OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Alexander Richmond Morison, of Lombard
House, George Yard, in the City of London, Gentleman, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADWAYS AND
OTHER SURFACES.”
Sealed. the 27th April 1875, and dated the 29th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Alexander
Richmond Morison at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,.
with his Petition, on the 29th October 1874.
I, JAMES ALEXANDER RICHMOND MORISON, of Lombard House,
5 George Yard, in the City of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
ROADWAYS AND OTHER SURFACES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the manufacture and employment in the
construction or formation of roadways and other surfaces of what I term
"wood mosaic" and "wood macadam."
My mode of procedure is as follows:-I take wood, such as oak, beech,
and elm, or any other suitable kind, and cut it up into angular or

page_text: prismatic picces of various sizes but of equal height, which may be from
1 to 3 inches or more, according to the services required of the roadway
or surface. I boil them in a solution of tar, pitch, and asphalte, or
bitumen, pitch, and asphalte, and lay them together with the cross grain
uppermost, so as to form a sort of mosaic, using the smaller pieces to
fill the larger cavities. I then pour into the cavities and on the surface
a solution of bitumen and asphalte, tar and asphalte, or tar, pitch, and
asphalte, so as to form a solid mass or concrete; and I strew the surface
with a layer of screened fine pebbles, or with small broken stones, or
with broken brick boiled in the solution above described, or with coarse
sawdust, or other like suitable material, and I then hammer or roll the
whole thoroughly.
For footpaths, yards, passages, or similar work not exposed to horse
traffic the pieces of wood may be only half an inch high. Or instead of
laying the wood in a mosaic form, as above described, I cut it up into
angular pieces resembling ordinary road "metal" or "macadam," and
after boiling them in the solution, as above explained, I lay them like
road metal and while hot from two to four inches thick, according to
traffic. I then fill up the cavities with smaller picces of chopped wood,
also boiled in tar or bitumen, so as to form a better surface and more
solid mass. I then pour on a solution, as before described, to bind the
whole together, strew the surface with screened pebbles, or small broken
stones, or broken brick, or coarse sawdust, or other like suitable material,
and hammer or roll the whole thoroughly.
My wood mosaic or wood macadam may be laid on any sufficiently
strong and smooth bottom, such, for example, as concrete, or boards
coated with a solution the same as used for the boiling process above
described.
. The surface being impermeable this pavement is adapted for stables,
coach-houses, yards, tracks of iron or asphalte, tramways, or in fact for
any object where a waterproof or a noiseless, elastic, and durable surface
is nearrived

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Alexander Richmond Morison in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 29th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ALEXANDER RICHMOND MORISON, of Lombard House, George Yard, in
the City of London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Alexander Richmond
Morison, Her special licence that I, the said James Alexander Richmond
Morison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Alexander Richmond Morison, 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 Ircland;
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADWAYS AND OTHER SURFACES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Alexander Richmond Morison,
my executors, or administrators, 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 James Alexander Richmond
Morison, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to
say:
My Invention consists in the manufacture and employment in the

page_text: My mode of procedure is as follows:-I take wood, such as oak, beech,
elm, pine, or any other suitable kind, and cut it up into angular or
prismatic pieces, which I prefer to be of various sizes and shapes but of
equal height, say, from 1 to 3 inches high or more, according to
I boil them in a
the services required of the roadway or surface.
solution of tar, pitch, and asphalte, or bitumen, pitch, and asphalte, so
that they may be impregnated therewith as much as possible, and with
this object I prefer that the pieces of wood employed should be cut out
of rectangular figures not exceeding, say, 4 inches on any one side. I
lay them together with the cross grain uppermost. I then pour into the
cavities and on the surface a solution of bitumen and asphalto, tar,
bitumen, and asphalte, or tar, pitch, and asphalte, which will bind or
unite with the similar material in or on the wood, thus forming a solid
mass or concrete. I next strew the surface, while the asphalte is still
hot, with a layer of screened fine pebbles or small broken stones in a
heated state, or with broken brick boiled in the solution above described,.
or with heated coarse sawdust, or other like suitable material, and I then
hammer or roll the whole thoroughly. This top dressing can be renewed
from time to time without interfering with the main structure or
effecting the homogeneity of the whole.
For footpaths, yards, passages, or similar work not exposed to horse
traffic the pieces of wood may be only half an inch high.
My wood mosaic may be laid on any sufficiently strong and smooth
bottom, such, for example, as concrete, or boards coated with a solution
the same as used for the boiling process above described, or old
"macadam."
The surface being impermeable this pavoment is adapted for stables,
coach-houses, yards, tracks of iron or asphalte, tramways, or in fact for
any object where a waterproof or a noiseless, elastic, and durable surface
is required.
The distinguishing features of this Invention are, the employment of
small angular or prismatic pieces of wood, the preparation of the said
pieces before laying in a solution which will bind them to the grouting
subsequently employed, the use of a grouting which will bind the
prepared pieces in one solid and thoroughly waterproof mass or concrete,
the non-slippery nature of the surface or top dressing, and the power of
renewing it without interfering with the main structure or affecting the

page_text: homogeneity of the whole, the thorough protection of the wood on all
sides from the effects of weather, and the non-exposure of the surface of
the wood to traffic.
And, having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the
construction of roadways and other surfaces, substantially in the manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Alexander Richmond
Morison, have hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-
eighth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
JAS. A. RICHMOND MORISON. (L.S.)