AN IMPROVED MODE OF EXCAVATING OR LOOSENING AND REMOVING SOIL AND OTHER DEPOSITS POR FORMING, DEEPENING, AND CLEANSING HARBOURS AND DOCKS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Colin Mather, of Salford, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
EXCAVATING OR LOOSENING AND REMOVING SOIL AND OTHER DEPOSITS POR
FORMING, DEEPENING, AND CLEANSING HARBOURS AND DOCKS, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 11th December 1868, and dated the 27th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Colin Mather at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th June 1868.
I, COLIN MATHER, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF EXCAVATING OR LOOSENING AND REMOVING SOIL AND OTHER DEPOSITS FOR
FORMING, DEEPENING, AND CLEANSING HARBOURS' AND DOCKS, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
In excavating or removing the soil and silt in the formation and
cleansing of harbours, or for deepening rivers, or for other excavations
an immense, amount of manual labour is required, or the employment.

page_text: of costly steam machinery is necessary. Now my Invention consists
in the application of a jet of water under pressure for loosening and
removing soil and silt or other deposits.
In performing my Invention the water under pressure is conveyed by
strong pipes from the pumping machinery or from the high-pressure
mains to the place where the excavation is required, and it is applied
through a bent or other shaped nozzle connected by a hose pipe or
universal joint or otherwise to the main pipes. The nozzle is directed
against the soil or other deposit to be removed, and the force of water
must be sufficient not only to loosen the soil or other deposit but to propel
it a considerable distance in the direction in which it may be required,
that is to say, in forming and cleansing docks or deepening harbours
the water forces the soil or silt into the stream of the river or until
it is washed away, by the tide. Or I connect a larger pipe to the
bent nozzle by means of a moveable ring or other swivel connection,
and the lower end of this larger pipe is formed so as to enter the soil or
gravel to be removed; the upper end of the large pipe is bent to deliver
the soil or gravel forced up it by the pressure of water into a barge or
other vessel moored near the apparatus, or on to the bank of the river
or dock to be deepened or excavated. A grid is or may be applied
between the upper end of the large pipe and the barge or bank to allow
the water to escape.
My Invention may be modified by surrounding the large pipe above
referred to with a casing and admitting the water through a swivel
joint to the space between the pipe and casing; the nozzle or nozzles are
applied at the base of the large pipe and force the soil up it as above
described
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Colin Mather in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, COLIN
MATHER, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year.

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Colin Mather, Her special license that
I, the said Colin Mather, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Colin Mather, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF EXCAVATING OR
LOOSENING AND REMOVING SOLL AND OTHER DEPOSITS FOR FORMING, DEEPENING,
AND CLEANING HARBOURS AND DOCKS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Colin Mather, my exccutors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Colin Mather, 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 (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in the application of a jet of water under
pressure for loosening and removing soil and other deposits from the
beds of rivers or other places where excavations are required. The jet
of water is applied direct through a nozzle to the deposit of soil, gravel,
or silt, and the force of water must be sufficient to loosen and propel
or induce a current for conveying the soil into the stream or tideway
where such exists, or the water issuing from the nozzle forces the
soil or deposit up a bent or other pipe and into a barge or other vessel,
or on to the bank of the river or other waterway to be deepened or
cleansed.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I will
proceed to describe the mode of operation.
In excavating or removing the soil and silt in the formation and
cleansing of harbours, or for deepening of rivers, or for other exca-
vations au immense amount of manual labour is required, or the.

page_text: employment of costly steam machinery is necessary. Now my Invention
consists in the application of a jet of water under pressure for loosening
and removing soil and silt or other deposits.
In performing my Invention the water under pressure is conveyed by
strong pipes from the pumping machinery or from the high-pressure
mains to the place where the excavation is required, and it is applied
through a bent or other shaped nozzle connected by a hose pipe or
universal joints or otherwise to the main pressure pipe. The nozzle is
directed against the soil or other deposit to be removed, and the force
of water must be sufficient not only to loosen the soil or other deposit
but to propel it a considerable distance, or to induce a current which
conveys it in the direction in which it may be required, that is to say,
in forming and cleansing docks or deepening harbours the water forces
or conveys the soil or silt into the stream of the river or until it is
washed away by the tide.
When it is necessary to collect the soil or silt into barges for removal,
or when it is desirable to deposit it on to the banks of a river or other
waterway, I make use of the apparatus shewn in the accompanying
Drawing.
a represents the side of a dock or the embankment of a river, the
bottom of which requires to be deepened; b is a pipe which is con-
nected to the force pumps or to the water mains with hose pipes;
this pipe is connected to the diagonal pipe c which is provided with
handles or cross bars c¹ to guide it in any required direction. To the
lower end of the pipe c is fixed the bent nozzle d, which is connected to
but capable of swivelling in the lower end of the large pipe e by means
of the carrying ring and nut collars. The lower end of the pipe e
is bell-mouthed, and it penetrates to a certain depth into the soil, silt, or
gravel to be removed; the upper end of the pipe e is also provided with
handles or cross bars e', and it is connected to the bent discharge
pipe placed above the barge g, or above the bank of the river or
canal or other waterway. When the water under pressure is turned
on, the silt, soil, or gravel is carried with the water forced through the
nozzle d up the pipe e and into the barge or on to the bank, the
position of the nozzle and discharge pipe being varied by attendants
placed on the platforms h and i, which are placed near the upper ends
of the pipes c and e, so that the attendants may have easy access to the
handles or cross bars c¹ and e¹. When the deposit is discharged into a

page_text: barge, as shewn in the Drawing, it is evident that the soil and gravel
will accumulate at the bottom while the water runs off at the top, as in
collecting the deposits from the ordinary dredging machines; but when
the deposits are to be discharged on to the bank of a river or canal the
pipe f may discharge its contents into a trough with a grid to allow
the water to escape while the solid matter is passing to the bank. It is
evident that the pipe e must be moved laterally to and fro, and back-
wards or forwards, so as to bring it into any required position for acting
on every portion of the mud bank or other deposit to be removed. Or
the force pumps and the machinery for working them may be contained
in a barge or on a floating stage in order to make the whole apparatus
more portable and better adapted for deepening rivers or canals.
My Invention may be modified by surrounding the pipe e with a
casing and admitting the water under pressure through a swizel joint to
the space between the pipe e and the casing, the nozzle or nozzles d
are applied at the base of the pipe e, and force the soil up as before
described.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the modes or apparatus described, as the same may
be varied or modified according to the particular purpose or situation to
or in which this Invention may be required; but what I do claim is, the
use or application of water under pressure for excavating or loosening
and removing soil and other deposits.
I also claim the particular apparatus shewn and described for carrying
my Invention into operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Colin Mather, have hereto set my
hand and scal, the Twenty-second day of December, One thousand
cight hundred and sixty-eight.