Improvements in Foundations or Inclosures for Buildings and other Structures.
Year: 1891

page_text: Complete Specification Left, 24th Dec., 1991-Accepted, un
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Foundations or Inclosures for Buildings and other
Structures.
1, ROBERT LEWIS HARRIS, of 1 Broadway, in the City, County and State of
New York, United States of America, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
In Letters Patent of the United States No. 435,142 granted to me August 26,
1890, I have described the manner in which cement can be introduced or forced
between the loose materials under or forming part of foundations or structures.
My present invention is a modification of and improvement upon the same,
especially for solidifying fine or easily-moving materials.
It is well known that quicksands are often very compact and apparently solid
until slightly disturbed, when they become semi-fluid, and great difficulty has been
experienced in constructing foundations in and building sewers through quicksands
and in excavating at the proper depth for placing foundations, water-pipes, sewers,
and structures of various kinds, because the water passing into the excavations
loosens up the sand, and the sand is not only carried with the water, but the mass
by agitation becomes loosened or so "alive" as to greatly impede, if not entirely
obstruct and preclude, the construction of the work through such quicksand. Sand
under many conditions makes an excellent foundation when confined. Quicksands
when disturbed move freely in any direction, and thus become alive under water,
even if apparently compact when quiescent.
My present invention is especially intended for use in quicksands; but it is also
available in the preparatory work for the construction of foundations, tunnels,
shafts, &c., in some clays and in sand or other loose material, especially where such
materials are beneath the water-level. When a pipe is inserted through such
materials down to a desired depth and water or other fluid is forced through the
same, the sand or other materials will be loosened by the agitating action of the
moving fluid, and I have discovered that if a second pipe is introduced through
the materials to the same or nearly the same depth a circulation can be obtained
to a greater or less extent of the fluid introduced through the first pipe under
pressure and passing through the sand or other loose material toward the second
pipe, and so on up the second pipe, and in this manner an underground current can
be produced that spreads horizontally through the sand to one or more exit-pipes,
so that after the materials have been more or less agitated by the current of water
or fluid passing from one pipe to the other cementing material in a sufficiently
fluid condition can be passed through one pipe and will follow, generally, the looser
material to the other pipe, and in this manner a layer of cement or of the cemented
materials can be placed with more or less regularity at the desired depth; or by
drawing the pipes successively in a vertical direction and successively repeating
the operation a vertical or nearly-vertical slab of greater or less uniformity can be
produced by the cementing material introduced through the mass of sand or other
materials while they occupy their nearly natural or ordinary position, so that by

page_text: consolidating or cementing the materials in such position as to inclose a mass
whose removal is intended the excavations can be proceeded with and the water
will be sufficiently shut off to prevent the wash of the sand or other material into
the excavations, and in cases where it is desired to do so a foundation can be
constructed in the quicksand or other material, commencing at a desired depth and
forming slabs, blocks, piles, or monoliths of cement of more or less regularity and
in the desired positions to form the proper supports for the superstructure.
In the construction of foundations and of sewers and in excavations for laying
water-pipes, &c., it is often advantageous to make use of sheet-piling or coffer-dam
work previous to excavating in the quicksand or similar material, and I place a
floor of cemented material between the sheet-piling to prevent the water or
quicksand from rising in the excavation from the bottom, which is usually one
great source of difficulty.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the position in which pipes may
be introduced for the aforesaid objects.
Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic vertical section of similar pipes, both being shown in
connection with sheet-piling and Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic cross-section, and
Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section, representing the improvements as
applied in connection with a floor and caisson or wall.
Figs. 5 and 6 are sections, in larger size, of the pipes that may be employed.
Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are diagrammatic cross-sections illustrating the positions in
which the pipes and cement may be introduced in forming either a tunnel or a
shaft, and
Figs. 10 and 11 are longitudinal sections illustrative of some of the ways of
using the present invention."
The pipes that I make use of may be of any suitable size, according to the
character of the material in which the foundation is to be made and the positions of
such pipes. I find it advantageous to make use of pipes two or three inches in
diameter, of suitable length to extend to the desired place, and these pipes may
have an open end and be driven or otherwise forced in place. It is convenient to
introduce a second pipe within the larger pipe a, having a jet end, from which
water is caused to issue to loosen the materials and allow the larger pipe to be
driven or forced to its place. This manner of sinking pipes is well known. Two
or more of these pipes are to be introduced into the material at the places where
the cement is to be directed, and they may be either vertical or horizontal or at an
inclination. I have represented them in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 as vertical. For
illustration, let the pipe 2 represent the one through which water is forced and the
pipe 3 be at a suitable distance from the pipe 2, so that when water or fluid is
forced through the pipe 2 it may permeate the quicksand or other material and
commence to rise in the pipe 3, and as the fluid will spread around the pipe 2 in
all directions, and finally a portion of it will reach the pipe 3, the pressure in that
direction is lessened and the flow will eventually be down the pipe 2 and, to a
considerable extent, up the pipe 3, and in so doing the materials between the pipes 2
and 3 will be sufficiently agitated or loosened, so that when cementing material is
forced down the pipe 2 it may spread mostly through the channel that the water
or fluid had travelled until it reaches the pipe 3, which is then preferably stopped,
and the material will spread or be forced into the adjacent materials. These
pipes 2 and may then be drawn up a suitable distance and the operations
repeated, which is preferably after the first charge of cement has sufficiently set
or hardened, and in this manner a slab of cement or cemented materials will be
formed of any suitable thickness and with more or less regularity between the
pipes 2 and 3. This operation may be promoted, if desired, by the introduction
of the small water-pipe B through one of the larger pipes 2 or 3, having a lateral
jet-opening or pipe for the issuing of the water, whereby the jet can be directed
toward the pipe 3, if desired, and in so doing the force of the jet will aid in the
establishing of the communication between the pipes 2 and 3.

page_text: It is advantageous to use the pipes illustrated in Figs. 5 or 6. In these A
represents the exterior or larger pipe, and B the inner pipe, and it is preferable to
have a valve D or D' near the lower end of the pipe B to close or open the bottom
end of the pipe A. In Fig. 5 this valve D is conical at its upper end, and the
lower end of the pipe A will be open when the valve D is kept below it and closed
when such pipe B and valve are drawn up. In Fig. 6 the valve D' is smaller than
the pipe A and closes downwardly upon the annular seat at the lower end of the
pipe A.
In use, water may be passed down the pipe B and loosen the sand and wash it
up through the pipe A, and this pipe A can be driven down from time to time.
When a desired depth is reached, the valve can be closed, and the water or fluid
under pressure will spread laterally until it reaches an adjacent pipe, as aforesaid.
Sometimes an annular flap E may be connected to the pipe B or valve to spread
by the upward pressure into a nearly-horizontal position to lessen the flow up
around the outside of the pipe A. and to direct the fluid under pressure horizontally.
This flap, being of flexible material, is folded together closely and downwardly
around the pipe D and pushed through the pipe A after the latter has been put in
place and some of the sand pumped out.
When suitable cement or ceinenting material-such as hydraulic cement or a
proper quality of clay mixed with water-is to be introduced, the pipe B may first
be withdrawn but generally it is preferable to introduce such material through
this pipe B, and, to hold this pipe B in place and to aid in preventing the cementing
material from rising in the pipe A under the pressure to which it is preferably
subjected, a cap of suitable character may be applied to the top of the pipe A. and
around the pipe B, as at F, such cap being secured by screws or otherwise and
rendered tight by packing.
In the construction of piers or columns of cement in quicksand or other loose
material the water may be forced down one of the pipes so as to spread in all
directions, and in so doing loosen the quicksand or similar material, and this may
be promoted by an alternate compression and suction of the water in such pipe or
compression in one pipe and suction in another, and, if desired, the water may be
pumped or forced out of such pipe to wash more or less of the sand or similar
material toward the pipe at the bottom end, so that the same may be withdrawn
with the water, thereby leaving a cavity in the quicksand or similar material near
the lower end of the pipe, into which cementing material of a proper quality or
mixed with sand to a greater or less extent may be introduced, and by the pressure
caused to spread at the lower end of the pipe to whatever extent the force may
send it, and by drawing this pipe upward successive additions to the cemented
In the
structure can be built up from the lowest to the highest levels, as desired.
construction of horizontal or nearly-horizontal floors the same operations are to be
performed.
Let it be presumed that pipes 4, 5. 6 and 7 are introduced to the desired depth,
and water may be forced down the pipe 4 under sufficient pressure to reach one or
more of the pipes 5, 6, 7, and 3, and, by a jet directed laterally from the lower end
of the water-pipe, the materials may be loosened more or less in a horizontal
direction, if desired, after which the cementing material introduced at the pipe 4
under proper pressure will spread laterally and reach one or more of the
pipes 5, 6, 7, and 3, and either of the pipes can be closed by the valve at the lower
end, or otherwise, if it becomes advantageous to do so in directing the circulation
or flow of the water or of the cementing material to the desired places, and the
floor may be still further spread by the washing action at one or more of the
pipes 5, 6, 7, 3, the water being directed horizontally to loosen up the materials
and to wash the same out to a greater or less extent, either through the same pipe
through which the water was first injected or through any one of the adjacent
pipes. Hence by successive operations through pipes that are applied at proper
distances apart the cementing material can be introduced horizontally or nearly so,
to au indefinite extent, and will make a floor to shut off the inlet of water,

page_text: quicksand, or other material before the excavations are made above the floor. This
object may at times be still further promoted by sheet-piling at 8 and 9 or by
coffer-dam or caisson work, and, if desired, the sheet-piling may form a square ot
inclosure, there being sheet-piling at 10 and 11 at the ends, and in this manner
successive sections can be inclosed for the construction of a sewer or other work
between the sheet-piling and above the cemented Hoor that is put down previous
to the excavation, and this mode of procedure can be adopted in making foundations
and in laying water-pipes, gas-pipes, or drains in streets or under buildings, especially
through quicksand.
In cases where tunneling is being performed the water is preferably passed into
an upper horizontal or inclined pipe, so that it will descend and pass back through
a lower pipe, thereby establishing a channel between the distant ends of the pipes,
in order that the cement may be introduced through one pipe, and in passing down
toward the other pipe the materials will be cemented together and then the pipes
can be driven in further and the operations repeated until a cement wall is
constructed in the materials as they lie in substantially their natural positions :
and a similar proceeding can be pursued in constructing a floor for a tunnel or in
applying a cement in the materials above the place where the tunnel is to be
excavated, thus aiding in keeping the materials in their proper position during the
excavation for the tunnel or other structure.
The walls or inclosures in the sand or other materials may be formed, as before
described, at any desired depth and extend to the required height, and such walls
may be used alone or with the floor or horizontal layer before described, and such
walls may extend above or below the floor, or both.
The improvement may also be used advantageously in the sinking of shafts
through quicksands or other fine materials by solidifying, in the manner described,
a shell or inclosure within which the shaft is to be sunk, or by so solidifying a mass
sufficiently large to allow the excavation of the shaft through such mass.
may also be formed in the same manner.
Tunnels
Upon reference to Figs. 7, 8, and 9 it will be apparent that the pipes for water
and for cement may form a circular range and be used as aforesaid."
If the pipes
are parallel, they may be forced along by hammers or hydraulic jacks K from time
to time, as illustrated in the section Fig. 10, and additions made to their lengths,
so as to introduce the cement ahead of or below the excavation. If other pipes
are introduced, as shown by dotted lines 20, Fig. 11, the whole mass of material
may be solidified and the central portion excavated to the line 21, if desired, to
form a shaft or tunnel; but where the pipes are introduced at a greater or less
inclination in tunnel-work, as seen in Figs. 9 and 11, the water is preferably
directed through one set of pipes and passes along and returns through the other
set of pipes in establishing the distant channels for introducing cement. In Figs. 7
and 8 the pipes L are shown as receiving the down-take and the pipes U the
uptake in opening up the channels, and then the connections can be reversed, so
that the pipes L become the uptake and the pipes U the downtake. The lines and
arrows illustrate the directions in which the channels are opened up, and these
channels may be more fully opened up by reversing the action, as aforesaid, and
cement can be introduced through the tubes L until it reaches the tubes U, such
tubes U either being open or having a suction applied to them, after which
cementing materials can be also introduced into the pipes U and caused to
spread toward the other tubes and intermingle with the previously-introduced
cement.
It is to be understood that these improvements are especially available where
the quicksand or other material has to be excavated; but where a structure is to
be erected upon loose materials, this mode of procedure can be availed of in making
an inclosure, columns, or monolith in the quicksand or other materials to properly
support the superstructure, and in instances where a pier, building, or other
structure is found to have an insecure foundation the foundation can be extended
or enlarged into the quicksand, rubble, gravel, or other loose material to any

page_text: lesired area or depth by proceeding, as before set forth, until the desired columns,
doors, inclosuring walls, or monoliths are constructed in the loose materials without
removing the pier, building, or other structure, in this way preventing the further
settling or giving way of the foundation under the structure. The fluid that is
introduced under pressure tends to spread at the bottom of the inlet-pipe and
displace more or less earth or other material in the direction of the least resistance.
If such fluid is injected too rapidly or under too much pressure, it will tend to lift
the sand or earth and escape to the surface, there usually being the least resistance
upwardly. If, however, the fluid is not injected too rapidly, the tendency of gravity
is to cause such liquid to percolate downward, and the result of these two forces is
to spread the fluid nearly horizontally. If now the fluid or that which it displaces
reaches one of the other pipes, the pressure is relieved and a route of least
resistance established toward that other pipe. Hence when the uptake of that
other pipe is closed and the pressure increases in the injected fluid the tendency
will be to spread farther in all directions and especially to rise toward the surface,
which usually is the direction of least resistance. Hence by availing of these
conditions the cementing material can be directed almost at will through the sand
or similar material.
It will be evident that this invention has a wide range of application, and that in
either shafts or tunnels or other works the pipes may be driven to the greatest
distance for commencing the opening up of channels and the introduction of
cement, and then the pipes may be partially drawn for each subsequent operation,
or else the pipes may be thrust to the place where the cement is to be first
applied, and then thrust or driven to a farther or more distant point for the next
operation, and so on.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The method herein specified of consolidating loose materials, consisting in
introducing pipes at distances apart, passing water or fluid into one or more of
the pipes to loosen the material around the ends of the pipes and establish
currents between one pipe and the other, and then filling the interstices and
channels with cementing materials introduced through one or more of the pipes,
substantially as set forth.
2. The method herein specified of producing a floor or similar structure within
the quicksand or other materials, consisting in introducing pipes at distances apart
and to a desired level, loosening the materials between the lower ends of the
respective pipes and near the desired floor-level by the action of a fluid forced
into one or more of the pipes to establish a current from one pipe to another,
and introducing cementing material through such pipes, substantially as set
forth.
3. The method herein specified of forming inclosures within sand or similar
loose materials, consisting in passing water or other fluid through one or more
pipes and through such materials to establish currents to the other pipes, and
then introducing cementing material, then moving such pipes for their ends to
be in different positions and repeating the operations by introducing water to
open up channels, and afterward introducing ceinenting materials, substantially as
set forth.
The method herein specified of inclosing quicksand or similar material to be
excavated, consisting in driving down sheet-piling and introducing cementing
material into the sand or similar loose material through pipes passed down into the
sand and between the piling to form a floor near the lower ends of the piles and
previous to the excavation of such quicksand or loose materials, thereby shutting off
the inlet at the bottom, substantially as set forth.
5. The method herein specified of consolidating sand or similar material, con-
sisting in forcing two or more pipes down in such material at a distance from one

page_text: another, forcing a fluid through one of the pipes, and establishing an outward
circulation to another pipe, and then forcing in a cementing material, and then
repeating the operation in other pipes successively, substantially as set forth.
6. The method herein specified of establishing a circulation through sand or
similar material, consisting in forcing three or more pipes down into such material
at suitable distances from each other, forcing a fluid down one of the pipes,
establishing an upward circulation in one of the other pipes, and then stopping off
such upward circulation to cause the fluid under pressure to pass toward the
uptake of the third pipe, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 24th day of December 1891
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.