IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE PURPOSE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 68, Fleet Street, in the
City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE PURPOSE."--A
communication from abroad by Thomas Charles Boutet, of 17,
Boulevart Saint Martin, Paris, France.
Sealed the 22nd February 1870, and dated the 19th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th October 1869.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 68, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE
PURPOSE," communicated to me from abroad by Thomas Charles Boutet,
of 17, Boulevart Saint Martin, Paris, France, to be as follows:-
A trellis or lattice work is made of a number of wire ropes or cables
which are fixed to abutments and stretched parallel and crossed and

page_text: connected at intervals with other wire ropes interlaced with or attached
to the first, being fastened by spiral ties of annealed wire. To the upper
and under surface planks are bolted, and the whole is strengthened and
secured by longitudinal and transverse stays. Balusters are bolted through
the planks and wirework. The latter may be fixed to the abutments by
plates passing downward into them. The piers consist of a base and a
shaft or body. The base is towed or floated into position by buoys. A
central buoy worked by a screw drops it steadily on to the bed. When
the buoy rises the weight sinks, and vice versa. The base is secured
into the bed by threaded feet adjusted to suit variation of level, and
the shaft or body is bolted on.
An apparatus is used to measure, survey, or trace the conformation of
the surface of the bed. It consists of a tube or rod working on a
joint or swivel, and having one end T shaped, that is to say, it terminates
in a horizontal bar which bears on rollers resting on the bed. This end
is immersed. The other end of the tube or rod is provided with an
alidate pointer or cross staff travelling over a dial or segment to measure
the vertical angles, and under this is another alidate, pointer, or cross
staff working over a similar dial or segment to shew the horizontal
angles. The instrument is fitted in a vessel, so that as the latter moves
the rollers pass over the bed and indicate its conformation. The wires
may be held while the trellis is made by a travelling toothed frame.
The wire ropes may be stretched by passing them on pulleys and over
a central support, weighting one end to bend it and straighten the other.
This arrangement may be applied for stretching the trellis when one
end is fixed to the abutment. The other end is pulled by a rope hooked
on to a bar and passed over a pulley behind the abutment, its other
end being on an adjustable support, and a weight being placed midway
of the abutment and support. Or the stretching may be effected by a
set of levers or compound levers, whereof the first has its long arm
acting on the small arm of the next, and the long arm of the latter
acts on the short arm of the next, and so on, one lever rising while
the next is depressed, and so on alternately. The last lever carries an
adjustable weight. To strengthen the bridge at the spring the trellis
may be made with a greater number of or thicker wire ropes at the
abutment ends than in the centre of the truss, bay, or bridge, the
number or diameter of the wire chains being gradually reduced to the
latter. The ends of the trellis may be attached to the abutments by

page_text: rings passing over a bar. Hence when the abutments are of sufficient
height piers may be dispensed with. The trellis may be attached to
the abutments by a bar with hooks or rings and screws sliding in slots
between the plates.
Sometimes the wires instead of being twisted into a rope are made
into clusters or bundles, narrow wire being wound spirally round a
core.
A machine for forming the wire into clusters consists of a revolving
drum and perforated disc to which the wires are fed. Weighted pulleys
bear on the wires. They are wound on the drum, passing through the
disc and through a hollow cone. The thin annealed wire passes through
a tube and is wound spirally outside the cluster. The axis of the disc
is a hollow tube mounted on the connecting conc.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 68, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Michael Henry, Her special
licence that I, the said Michael Henry, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Michael Henry, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE PURPOSE,"
municated to me from abroad by Thomas Charles Boutet, of 17,
Boulevart Saint Martin, Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst

page_text: others) that I, the said Michael Henry, 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 Michael Henry, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, as communicated to me, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say:-
The Invention first relates to the construction of wire bridges in the
following manner :-A metallic trellis or lattice is formed of a number
of wire ropes or cables fixed to abutments and stretched or extended so
as to be parallel to each other by means of windlasses, screws, counter-
balance weights, or otherwise, as afterwards described, and these wire
ropes or cables are connected and kept at proper intervals apart by wire
rope connections placed at equal distances apart and at right angles to
the first-named wire ropes or cables. These connections are formed of
a number of wire ropes (smaller than the first-named wire ropes) crossing
each other and interlacing with the said first-named or larger wire ropes,
and connected together by ties made of annealed wire wound spirally
round them; they are thus held firmly and closely together and in
such manner that the first-named or larger wire ropes are held or seized
tightly between them, and thus a strong and secure wirework trellis or
lattice is constructed, the parts of which are firmly secured together
and act in an uniform manner. To the upper and under surface of this
trellis or lattice are fixed two wood planks or floors or platforms, one
being on the under surface of the trellis and the other on the upper
surface thereof, and the trellis which is thus held firmly between the
two plank surfaces or floors is secured thereto by bolts, which pass
through the planking and the trellis which is between. The bolts are
fixed by nuts whose heads are countersunk in the wood. All the wire
ropes being held firmly throughout their whole length are preserved
from longitudinal extension or strain. The whole is strengthened and
additionally secured by means of longitudinal and transverse stays of

page_text: wood or metal, and wood or metal balusters or rails are fixed at their
lower ends to the structure by bolts, which pass through the planking
or flooring, the trellis, and the longitudinal stays, and are secured by
strong screws. These balusters not only serve as railings to fence or
protect the passengers, but also add to the vertical rigidity of the.
structure. The abutments are made in the usual manner, and they may
be either of masonry or wood. The wire rope trellis is fixed to the
abutments by cast-iron clamp plates sunk vertically in the thickness or
body of the abutments. The piers consist of two parts, a base and a
shaft or body, that is to say, the lower of these parts forms a base or
pedestal, and is placed on the bed of the river, from which it rises to the
height of a few feet above the level of the water. This base is floated
into position by buoys and towed by a tug to the place in which it is to
be fixed, and then sunk or dropped gently and without jerk on to its bed
by means of a main or central buoy raised and lowered by a long vertical
screw rod. When the buoy is raised the weight of the base of the pier.
becomes heavier than the volume of water and it descends gradually
proportionately to the ascending motion of the buoy, but if on the other
hand the buoy is lowered the base becomes specifically lighter than the
water and rises to the surface. Thus the position of the base may be
regulated as required. The base is then secured to the ground or bed by
threaded feet, which screw it as deeply into the bed as required to get
at or restore a desired level. The other or upper part of the pier, which
may be called its shaft or body, is secured to the base, and all the parts
should be prepared beforehand and conveyed in a vessel to the place in.
which they are to be fixed and then bolted together.
An improved sounding apparatus is used to measure, trace, or survey-
the conformation of the surface of the bed of the river. This apparatus
consists of a long tube of sheet iron, working on a joint or swivel, so that
it can be turned in all directions. The joint or swivel is fixed on the
deck of the surveying vessel in a cabin at the stern. The tube is
mounted on a joint or axis not in the centre of its length, so that
the tube forms two arms of a lever, one longer than the other;
the longer arm, which is immersed in the water, has at its further.
end a horizontal rod or cross piece, that is to say, it is of T shape
at this end, the limbs of the rod or cross piece bearing on friction
rollers which rest on the bed of the river. The other or upper arm
of the tube is provided at its upper end with an alidate or cross,

page_text: on their
staff divided according to the Vernier system, and travelling over a dial
or quadrant so as to show vertical angles. Under this alidate is a rod
fixed at right angles to the axis or pivot of the tube, and provided at
one end with another alidate or cross staff graduated in the same
manner, and travelling over a dial graduated in corresponding manner,
so as to indicate horizontal angles. When the vessel haying this
apparatus on board is moved forward the rollers bear on the bed of the
river and pass over such bed as the boat goes on, and indicate its
unevennesses or roughnesses, the alidates or cross staves showing
respective dials the vertical and horizontal angles corresponding with
the conformation of the surface of the bed, as above explained, and
hence they indicate the said conformation at the parts of the bed at
which it is intended to work, and hence the piers can be fixed in place
with accuracy and safety. The wire ropes may be held by means of a
travelling toothed frame while the trellis is being made. The wire
ropes may be stretched by passing them on pulleys and over a central
support, weighting one end to bend it thereat, and straighten the other.
This arrangement may be applied for extending the trellis when one end
is fixed to the abutment. The other end is pulled by a rope hooked on
to a bar and passed over a pulley behind the abutment, its other end
being on an adjustable support, a weight being placed midway of the
abutment and support. Or the stretching may be effected by a set of
levers or a number of compound levers, whereof the first has its long
arm acting on the short arm of the next, and the long arm of the latter
acts on the short arm of the next, and so on, one lever rising while the
next is depressed, and so on alternately. The last lever carries an
adjustable weight. To strengthen the bridge at the spring or rise the
trellis may be made with a greater number of or thicker wire ropes at
the abutment ends than in the centre of the truss bag or bridge, the
number or diameter of the wire ropes being gradually reduced as they
approach the centre. The ends of the trellis may be attached to the
abutments by rings passing over a bar. Hence when the abutments aro
of sufficient height piers may be dispensed with. The trellis may be
attached to the abutments by a bar with hooks or rings and screws.
sliding in slots in the plates.

page_text: An improved machine for forming the wire rope of clusters consists
of a revolving drum and perforated disc, to which the wires are fed.
Weighted pulleys bear on the wires. They are wound on the drum
The thin annealed
passing through the disc and through a hollow cone.
wire passes through a tube and is wound spirally outside the cluster.
The axis of the disc is a hollow tube mounted on the connecting
cone..
I now proceed. more particularly to describe the mode in which the
Invention is carried into effect.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the bridge; one of the abutments is shown
in section. A is a horizontal lattice or trellis work of wire rope con-
sisting of wire cables or ropes stretched from one abutment to the
opposite one. The number and thickness of the ropes are proportionate
to the required weight of the bridge, and to the strain, pressure, or burden
it will have to sustain. The ropes are terminated at each end by a
ring passing over an iron bar B. placed in hooks C mounted on cast-
iron cramp. plates D, which are sunk into the body of the masonry
of the abutment. E are strong screws which work the hooks so as to
cause them to slide in a groove formed in the plates when it is necessary
or advisable to stretch the trellis again or take up a slack; F are other
cast-iron plates, which are grooved. These grooved plates F form
plummer blocks or bearings to receive the wire ropes of the trellis,
which are held fast in them by means of caps G screwed down to the
plates F by nuts and tightened as required. Washers or sheaths of leather
surround the wire ropes at the part at which they lie in the bearings F
to prevent the frietion of the rope against the metal of the bearings F.
His the upper flooring, platform, or planking made of oak or fir, and
fixed to the wire rope trellis A on the upper side thereof, and H* is the
lower planking or flooring, which is made of deal, and fixed to the
wire rope trellis on the lower side thereof; h, h, are longitudinal stays
made of oak; I, bolts with nuts I* for securing the various parts of the
structure together; J, iron or cast-iron rails or balusters secured to the
planking and trellis by nuts screwed on to their ends under the
stays h.
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the bridge shewing the first-named
or main wire ropes or cables connected by cross attachments. or-con-
nections a, a. A, wire rope trellis or lattice held between the plankings
H and H, as above described; h, cross, stays; I, bolts.; I*, nuts;

page_text: J, balustrade; J*, braces, struts, or bearers fixed on the longitudinal
stays and supporting the balusters or railings.
Figure 3, plan of the bridge and its abutments. Part of the abutment
on the left side is removed to shew the apparatus for fixing the wire
ropes. Part of the flooring or upper planking is removed to shew the
plan of the lattice and its attachments. The cross pieces shewn as
placed above the lattice should really be placed under it. A is the
trellis or lattice, formed of longitudinal wire ropes connected and
held in position by attachments a transverse or at right angles thereto;
B, bars on which the wire ropes are fixed; c, hooks supporting the bars;
D, cast-iron plates supporting the hooks; E, screws which move the
hooks in guide ways formed in the plates when the ropes have to be
tightened afresh; F, bearings or holding plates in which the wire ropes
are made fast by screwing thereon the caps G; H, upper, and H* lower
planking as before; h, longitudinal stays; I, bolt heads.
Figures 4 and 4° shew the details of these holdfasts.
B, bar sup
porting the wire ropes; C, hooks holding this bar; D, screw for moving
the whole arrangement forward or backward by means of a strong
ratchet brace or by gearing.
Figures 5, 5, and 5b shew apparatus for holding the wire ropes while
the trellis or lattice is being made. This apparatus consists of a square
iron or wood frame K provided with teeth L, which are arranged cross-
wise on the wire ropes, so that each wire rope may be held between two
of such teeth. The wire ropes, being thus kept at the required distance
apart, the attachments can now be formed in a straight row according
to the direction of the frame, and they are tightened on without dis,
turbing the arrangement. Grooved pulleys or rollers are placed under
the frame, and work one on each cable so as to ease the motion of the
apparatus, which is progressively moved forward by the workmen as
the work proceeds.
Figure 6 shews the wire rope for the horizontal lattice work, that is
to say, part of a wire rope made in clusters. This wire rope consists of
a number of galvanized iron or steel wires stretched to an equal degree
of tension by counterbalance weights and connected and tightened by
annealed wire, which forms a continuous binding tie wound spirally
round the cluster of wires. The advantages of wire ropes thus formed
over ordinary or twisted ropes are, first, that they do not undergo the

page_text: strain of twisting, as is the case with ropes made by twisting wire strands,
and hence retain their maximum strength; secondly, they are more
rigid; thirdly, they are less liable to be exposed to undue longitudinal
strain or tension.
Figure 6 shews wire rope for vertical lattice or trellis, that is to say,
part of a rope formed by twisting wires in the usual manner. These
wire ropes may be used to form the wire lattices, but as they are more
liable to deterioration from the twisting they are less strong and rigid
than the cluster ropes formed as above described, but as they are
more flexible they may be used advantageously for trellises placed ver-
tically and forming beams for supporting the platform of the bridge.
Figure 7 shews the arrangements for and mode of stretching the
wire ropes.
An inspection of this Figure will explain the method.
Suppose the rope fixed at both ends, then if it be placed over moveable
grooved pullies or rollers mounted on a support (or on one of the
piers in bridges of large span or bay) such support being at the
middle of the length of the wire rope the two parts will be of equal
weight, and the wire rope will bend or deflect to an equal extent at
each part; but if a counterbalance weight as M be placed midwise of
one of the parts it will cause that part to bend more at the part at
which it is suspended but will straighten the counterpart; the rope
will thus be stretched nearly horizontally without undue strain on the
metal of the wire. This easy method may be also applied in like manner
for stretching the wire trellises as follows:-Suppose that one of the ends
of a trellis is fixed on an abutment, and that to the other end an ex-
tension piece is attached, such extension consisting of a strong rope,
one end of which terminating in a ring passes in or is connected with the
bar B at the middle, as in Figures 1 and 4. This rope is placed on a
pulley at the back of the abutment. Its other end rests on a support at
any required distance from the said abutment, varying according to the
length of the rope, which is thus suspended for its entire length.
Counterbalance weights are then placed on the wire rope at an equal
distance from the abutment and the support, and these weights will bend
or deflect the rope at one part, and on the other hand they will straighten
the wire trellis, which can thus be readily extended, say, to both or Tooth
part of an inch without straining the wires.
Figure 7 shews another mode of stretching or extending the wire
ropes and the trelliscs. In some cases from want of room or other

page_text: reasons it may be impossible to use the above described methods, and
in such cases the wire may be stretched by a windlass or crab mounted
on the pier; but when this machine is used the resisting action of the
trellis sometimes tends to drag the top of the pier and to overturn the
whole pier. But an improved stretching apparatus is shewn in Figure
7*, in which a system of levers or set of compound levers is used, the
first of which N forms a right angle; its longer arm acts on the small
arm of the next lever N*, which is a straight lever; the long arm of this
lever N* acts in a contrary direction on the arm of the third lever N³,
and so on, one on the other alternately if a larger number be necessary.
On the long arm of the last lever is a counterbalance weight, which is
adjusted to the required position by an adjusting screw of strength
proportionate to the weight of the trellis. In this arrangement the
trellis ceases to exert traction on the pier, but presses on the axis or
fulcrum of the levers,, and the levers in turn exert pressure on the
vertical axis of the pier, and quite prevent it from being overturned.
Figure 8 is a plan, and Figure 8 is a section of a lattice or trellis. It
is clear that the weight of the wires influences the absolute or integral
strength of the whole wire rope, which if it be suspended for too great a
length without support would break by reason of its own weight at the
spring of the parabola, that is to say, near the abutments. This effect
will be neutralized by arranging the wire ropes of the trellis in such
manner that they shall be gradually reduced in number from the
abutments to or towards the middle of the crown of the arch, there using
a number sufficient to support the vis inertiæ or dead weight and the
moving pressure or irregular or incidental load, that is to say, the weight
of vehicles, beasts, of traction, and passengers passing over the bridge.
In Figure 8 plan of this arrangement the first bay contains eleven
wire ropes, the second nine, the third not more than seven, and so on.
Want of space has prevented the illustrating of the reduction of the wire
ropes in precise proportions, but this would be easy to calculate to a
nicety. Each end of the wire ropes terminates in a ring, through which
rings there passes a round bar of iron or steel so as to connect all the
wire ropes together. It follows that the lattice is much stronger at the
ends next the abutment where the load acts more forcibly than at the
centre, and the excess of resistance serves to carry the weight of the
trellis, which if it be well proportioned will be of due strength at all
parts. Hence in theory there is no limit to the length of span or bay of

page_text: bridges constructed according to this method, and in principle it may be
stated that the length of span can only be limited by the height of
the abutments. Hence by this arrangement bridges of a single span
or bay, that is to say, without piers, may be thrown from bank to bank
of the broadest rivers provided that the height of the abutments be
such that the bend of the lattice be of sufficient height not to interfere
with the passing of ships beneath the bridge. A like result to that
above described would be obtained by forming the lattice of the same
number of wire ropes throughout its length, but gradually reducing the
diameter or thickness of the ropes between each portion of the bay or
span from the abutments to the middle or crown of the bridge, and this
mode is to some extent preferable, because it allows of the planking
being more uniformly supported throughout its entire length.
Figure 9 shews an improved machine for manufacturing the wire ropes
or cables according to the cluster system above described; a, cast-iron
framework the feet of which may be bedded in the ground; b, strong
drum, on the axis of which is a pulley c actuated by a driving strap d
rotated by an ordinary prime mover; e, e, e, are iron or steel wires which
are unrolled or fed from a long reel f mounted on a frame g; the motion
of this reel is controlled by a lever break having a counterbalance
weight controlled by an adjusting screw i; j.j.j, are counterbalance
weights mounted on pullies or rollers working on the threads; k, cast-
iron disc pierced with holes at equal distances apart, through each of
which passes one of the wires of the intended cluster, these holes are
arranged in a circle on the disc; 7 is a conical tube in which all the wires
are collected into a single cluster; m is the support which carries the tube /
and also a disc n, on the outer face of which is a reel p, the motion of
which is regulated by a break not shewn in the Drawing. This reel is
supplied with annealed wire which is thinner than the wire of the cluster.
The wire fed from the reel p passes through a small tube q forming or
having a projecting part, and is wound spirally round the cluster.
the axis of the disc n; it consists of a hollow tube moving on the tube
and actuated by a strap r driven by the motive power of the machine.
o is
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The wires e having been
collected into a bunch or cluster at one end which is fixed on the drum
the action of binding them together is initiated or started by forming a
tie or ligature by means of wire from the reel p, which wire is wound

page_text: spirally round the cluster of wires e; the drum is then set in motion by
the driving strap d and draws the wire rope, which rolls slowly round the
periphery of the drum as the wires e unwind from the reel f; meanwhile
the disc n turning very rapidly continues to form the tie or ligature, and
the counterbalance weights j whose motion is eased by their pulleys
descend continuously in the centre of the bend or kink which they
impart to the wires, which are thus stretched equally, and their asperities
are smoothed off by the holes of the disc k through which they pass. A.
leather washer is fitted into the edge of each hole to preserve the
galvanized surface of the wires from being rubbed off. When the reel f
is quite empty a fresh reel full of wire is taken, and the end of the fresh
wire is joined to the previous wire by a splice; all the splices should be so
arranged that they do not all come together at the same place. As the
second revolution of the wire rope passing over the drum would increase
the speed of the ropes, and therefore as the velocity would be no
longer in proper ratio with that of the annealed wire used for the tie, the
speed of the drum is slackened, reducing the driving speed proportionally
to or according as the number of revolutions of the ropes on the drum
becomes increased. If this be done the speed of the tie wire need not be
modified.
Figure 10 shews the arrangements for floating and sinking a picr
furnished with the buoys and towed by a steam tug. Q, pier or base of a
pier formed of galvanized iron or cast-iron cross bars; R, buoys or floats.
made of sheet iron or wood, and used to float the pier; R*, chief buoy
used for raising and lowering the pier; S, screw rod for raising and
lowering the buoy R*; T, gearing for communicating rotary motion from
a crank handle Ų to the rod S; R³, small buoy guided in ways V and
raised by the thrust of the water as fast as the pier descends towards the
bottom, so that the traction of the boat makes the towing chain take a
horizontal direction and thus prevents the pier from being overthrown
while the work is going on; X, chain which fastens the pier to the stern.
of the steam tug Y which tows the pier; Z, helical or screw threaded
feet worked by a screw which secures the base of the pier in the bed of
the river and regulates its level; W, chain for holding the buoys R when
unfastened; the buoys can be readily taken away, that is to say, when
the pier is duly fixed in place.
יד

page_text: a
joint or pivot d; b, roller working on an axis c at one end of the tube a;
e, pointer or vane fixed on the upper end of the tube a (for which how-
ever an alidate should be used, as above described); f, dial or quadrant
graduated in divisions 0, 1, 11, and indicating the angles shewn by the
pointer. (To avoid confusion the Drawing only shews the dial and pointer
for indicating the vertical angles of the surface of the river bed, but
another dial and pointer or alidate are added as above described to shew
the horizontal angles.)
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The improved construction of bridge in which a number of wire
ropes are formed into a trellis or lattice as described and combined with
planking platforms or flooring stays, and balusters, all as above
described.
Second. The mode of stretching the wire ropes and the trellis by
counterbalance weights, as in Figure 7, or by a combination of levers, as
in Figure 7°, as above described.
Third. The method of fixing the wire rope trellis to the abutments
by a bar with hooks and screws sliding in plates, as described.
Fourth. The arrangement of apparatus herein-before described for
holding the wire ropes while the attachments are being applied.
Fifth. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
machine herein-before described for manufacturing wire ropes by clusters
of wires, as exemplified in Figure 9.
Sixth. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
sounding apparatus or instrument for ascertaining and indicating the
conformation of the surface of the bed of the water, substantially as
described.
Seventh. The mode of and combination of apparatus for conveying the
base or pedestal of piers to their intended position and of sinking them
as required, substantially in manner set forth.
Eighth. The mode herein-before described of arranging, constructing,
and applying the wire rope lattice or trellis so that great lengths of

page_text: bay or span without using piers may be obtained according to the height
of the abutment.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of April, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
E. DE PASS,
68, Fleet Street,
London.
M. HENKY. (L.S.)