IMPROVEMENTS IN ROADWAYS OR PAVE- MENTS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Moore, Merchant, and Thomas Steven,
Ironfounder, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROADWAYS OR PAVE-
MENTS."
Sealed the 27th February 1874, and dated the 18th December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Moore and
Thomas Steven at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 18th December 1873.
We, HENRY MOORE, Merchant, and THOMAS STEVEN, Ironfounder,
both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROADWAYS
OR PAVEMENTS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in roadways or pave-
ments, has reference to that class of roadways or pavements which are
constructed of asphalte, or bituminous rocks, cement, or compounds of
these substances.

page_text: The object of the Invention is to render the said roadways or pave-
ments less slippery.
According to the first mode of carrying out these improvements iron
or steel or other ferruginous matter, such as the oxide of iron or iron
ores in a pulverized or broken state, including iron or steel borings,
turnings or filings, mine dust or grit, are commingled with the asphaltc,
bituminous rock or cement, or compounds thereof, cither throughout the
mass or at the surface thereof, so that when the pavement or roadway
is laid as is usual in a continuous sheet of the aforesaid substances their
presence produces a roughened surface thereon.
According to the second mode of carrying out the improvements the
asphalte, bituminous rock, or cement is compressed by any suitable
machinery into moulds so as to produce blocks of a convenient size to
resemble ordinary stone paving setts. These are laid over a concrete or
similar bottom or foundation, and the joints between the blocks are
filled up with a different material, by preference such as cement or
mineral mastic or bitumen, so as to avoid uniformity on the surface.
It is however to be understood that material the same as that of which
the blocks are made may be used for filling up the joints. The upper
sides of the blocks may be rounded or have their edges bevilled, and
the ferruginous substances or grit hercin-before described may be com-
mingled throughout the mass of the blocks or at their upper surfaces
only.
Under another mode of carrying out the improvements constituting
this Invention the effect of non-uniformity of surface of the roadway or
pavement is obtained on a continuous sheet of asphalte, bituminous rock,
or cement, or compounds thereof, by stamping indentations in the said
roadway or pavement so as to resemble the spaces between paving setts
shortly after it is laid, that is to say before it has set or become hard.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Moore and Thomas Steven in the Great.
Seal Patent Office on the 16th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
MOORE, Merchant, and THOMAS STEVEN, Ironfounder, both of Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the 37th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Henry Moore and Thomas Steven, Her
special license that we, the said Henry Moore and Thomas Steven, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Henry Moore and Thomas Steven, our executors, administrators, or
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 ROADWAYS OR PAVE-
MENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Henry
Moore and Thomas Steven, by an instrument in writing under our
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 we, the said Henry Moore and Thomas Steven,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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 :-
Our said Invention, which relates to improvements in roadways or
pavements, has reference to that class of roadways or pavements which
are constructed of asphaltic or bituminous rocks.
The object of our Invention is to render the said roadways or pave-
ments less slippery, and thereby to avert the accidents which so
frequently occur on such roadways or pavements as at present con-
structed.
According to the first head of the improvements constituting this In-
vention, iron, steel, or other ferruginous matter, such as the oxide of iron
or iron ores in a pulverized or broken state, including iron or steel borings,
turnings or filings, mine dust or grit, are commingled with the asphalte
or bituminous rock at or upon its surface, but not throughout the mass

page_text: constituting the roadway or pavement, the result of which is the pro-
duction of a roadway or pavement with a surface not only more durable,
that is to say capable of undergoing more wear and tear than that of
the asphalte or bituminous rock alone, but one which is not rendered so
slippery in wet weather.
+
In laying a roadway or pavement according to the first head of this
Invention the ground is first excavated to the required depth and contour,
and if not sufficiently hard is beaten or stamped or rolled until the
required degree of hardness is obtained. The ground thus prepared is
then covered over with a layer of suitable concrete to make it impervious
to water, after which the pulverised asphalte or bituminous rock is laid
thereon and compressed or beaten until compacted after the manner at
present adopted in laying pavements of such asphalte as that which is
obtained in the Val de Travers or in the neighbourhood of the Lake of
Neuchatel. A portion of roadway or pavement having been laid in the
manner now set forth, but before being finally compacted, a thin layer,
say from to of an inch in thickness, of any of the ferruginous
substances herein-before described is laid thercon and beaten or com-
pressed into the surface until the required degree of hardness is
obtained.
According to the second head of the improvements constituting this
Invention the asphalte or bituminous rock is not laid en masse, as
herein-before described under the first head of the Invention, but is
compressed by any suitable machinery into moulds so as to produce
blocks of a convenient size, resembling on the surface ordinary stone
paving setts of varying thickness adapted to the nature of the traffic.
The edges or angles which are uppermost when the blocks are placed
in situ in a roadway or pavement are by preference bevilled or rounded
so as to produce recesses or grooves on the surface of the roadway for
increasing the foothold of horses. They may however be constructed
without such rounding or bevilling, and they are sufficiently far
apart to give a catch for the horse's foot between, & the spaces are
filled with bituminous mastic. The upper surfaces of the blocks thus
constructed may have ferruginous matter at their surfaces by laying
such ferruginous matter mixed with a little of the asphalte or bituminous
rock in that part of the moulds which shapes the upper surface of the
blocks, but such blocks may also be formed without the use of ferru-
ginous matter to fulfil the object of this part of the Invention which

page_text: as aforesaid is to obtain increased foothold by means of a grooved or
indented surface produced by bevilling or rounding the upper edges of
the blocks, and also placing them apart like granite setts.
In laying a roadway or pavement or blocks constructed as now last
set forth the foundation is prepared in the manner described under the
first head of these improvements. Over the layer of concrete there is
placed a thin layer of mineral mastic, upon which the blocks are laid
and set, the spaces between them, but not those portions between the
upper rounded or bevilled edges, being filled with cement, mineral
mastic, or other suitable material.
According to the third head of the improvements constituting this
Invention the grooving or indenting of the surfaces of roadways or
pavements composed of pulverised asphalte or bituminous rock, with or
without ferruginous matter commingled therewith at or near the surface
thereof, is effected by stamping indentations by the aid of iron or steel
bars or frames into the surface of such roadways or pavements laid
en masse, this being effected when the pulverised material is being
compacted in situ in the usual manner, that is to say while hot and
before it is finally compressed or hardened.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, we would observe in conclusion that we are aware it has
been previously proposed to commingle ferruginous matter en masse
with a melted compound of asphalte and tar so as to produce a mixture
which is laid in a fluid or molten state, that our improvements have no
reference to the classes of asphalte or bituminous substances which are
so laid, but to those only which are laid in the pulverised condition.
What therefore we consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim
as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First. The commingling of ferruginous matter with asphalte or
bituminous rock, and at or near the surface thereof when laid in situ,
to form a roadway, substantially as herein-before described.
Second. Constructing blocks of asphalte or bituminous rocks so as on
the surface to resemble stone paving setts, and with or without their
edges bevilled or rounded so as to produce an indented or grooved
surface, and substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: Third. The indenting or stamping of a continuous surface of asphalte
or bituminous rock with grooves, substantially as herein-before set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Moore, on behalf of myself
and the said Thomas Steven, have hereunto set my hand and t
seal, this Fifteenth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-four.