IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIERS AND BREAKWATERS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Gorlon Page, of Gray's Inn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIERS AND BREAKWATERS."
Scaled the 12th July 1872, and dated the 16th January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Gordon Page
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th January 1872.
I, GEORGE GORDON PAGE, of Gray's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIERS AND BREAKWATERS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct piers to be used for the
purpose of landing and embarking passengers and merchandise, and
breakwaters in such a manner that they shall not be liable to silt up
with sand or mud; that steamers or other vessels may be able to come
alongside of them or into "locks" formed within them, and to land and

page_text: embark passengers and merchandise at all states of wind and tide; that
parts of their superstructure may be used for the purpose of marine
promenades or roads, and that if required they may serve as deep sea
harbours of refuge.
For the purpose of carrying out my Invention I avail myself of the
natural level of the bed of the sea at that part of the shore where it is
intended that the pier or breakwater shall be constructed, and from the
shore I carry out a pier or jetty supported upon suitable piles, and of such a
length that its outer extremity shall be in sufficiently deep water. And I
make the outer extremity terminate in a pier head or platform supported
upon piles, or cylinders, or masonry, or upon other suitable means of
support, in any of the methods well understood and practised.
And sometimes I make the picr heads floating instead of fixed, so that
the water may pass through them freely, and thus prevent silting. And
from the pier head or platform described I make two or more subsidiary
piers or arms, straight or curved, radiating from the pier head, and I
prefer that these arms should make equal angles with each other and
with the main pier or jetty already described, but they may make
greater or less angles to suit the particular locality where the pier is
constructed.
Sometimes I connect the pier head with the shore by means of a
submarine tunnel instead of a jetty.
The subsidiary piers or arms I construct upon piles, cylinders, or other
suitable supports, so that they serve as breakwaters to protect steamers
or other vessels lying between them, or sometimes I make them floating.
And upon these I form suitable stages and stairs for the purpose of
landing or embarking passengers or merchandise, and where necessary I
make these stages at different levels so that they may be available in
different states and heights of the tide.
And sometimes I carry lines of railway along the principal pier or
jetty, which lines of railway are connected with others which pass along
the subsidiary piers or arms described, so that trains of carriages or
waggons may be brought to the spot where any steamer or other vessel
is being loaded or emptied, or the railways may be arranged so that
trains of carriages may be run directly upon or from the decks of
steamers or other suitable vessels.

page_text: By the arrangement described vessels can. be brought to one or other
of the subsidiary piers or arms, or to the face of the pier head between
the subsidiary arms in any condition of the wind or tide, and the
remaining piers or arms act as breakwaters to protect such vessels from
the force of the wind and waves.
By the construction of such piers or jetties having radial subsidiary
arms or piers at their extremities as described, all supported upon piles
or cylinders, between which the water can pass, the silting up of the
piers is prevented.
Sometimes I place lights or signals of different colours or forms upon
the pier, and at the extremity of cach subsidiary pier or arm, so that
vessels may have no difficulty in entering the space between any two
of the piers that may be required, according to the state of the wind and
tide at the time.
Sometimes instead of making the subsidiary piers or arms described
form a part of the principal pier or jetty, I make the outer extremity of
the pier or jetty terminate in a pier head or platform (which I prefer to
make polygonal in plan), against which steamers or other vessels may
lie. And I make the subsidiary piers or arms (which may be straight
or curved) separate and independent, and I arrange them in such a
position as to form breakwaters to protect vessels which may be lying
against the pier head, the piles supporting the pier head themselves
also forming a breakwater or protection from the wind and waves.
I construct the pier head or platform so that it may serve the purpose
of a marine promenade or walk. For this purpose I prefer to elevate it
above the level of the roads upon the jetty and arms, and I form a
path or paths round it, communicating with the principal pier or jetty,
and sometimes I form in its centre a building or pavilion in which
music or other amusement may be provided.
And sometimes in positions where advisable I make the piers or
breakwaters constructed as described serve the purpose of harbours of
refuge, the spaces between the subsidiary piers or arms forming harbours
into which vessels may enter for the purpose of seeking shelter from
wind or waves. And in some positions I make such harbours of refuge
independent, and not communicating with the shore.
Sometimes I protect the structures which form the piers and subsidiary
piers or arms from the action of the waves by means of breakwaters,

page_text: having their surfaces arranged vertically or obliquely, and which
breakwaters may be fixed or floating, and arranged in such a position that
they meet the waves with as little direct resistance as possible from a
point below the level of low water to a point above the level of high
water.
Sometimes I make one or more of the piers or arms double, so that
"lock,"
the space within so formed may serve the purpose of a basin or
into which vessels may enter; and I make suitable water-tight gates to
such basin or lock, and I arrange the basin or lock so that when requisite
I can raise any vessel within it by admitting additional water, and I
lower such vessel by discharging such additional water. And I obtain
water for this purpose either by admitting it from the sea when the tide
is sufficiently high, or by pumping it in or admitting it from suitable
reservoirs provided on the shore. And by this method when trains of
carriages are to be placed on or removed from the vessels using such
basin or lock I raise or lower the vessel to the exact height required for
the purpose at any height of the tide.
The accompanying Drawings are in illustration of my Invention, and
shew some of the forms of the piers and breakwaters which I construct
according to it.
Figure 1 is a plan of an arrangement having two subsidiary piers
or arms connected with a principal pier or jetty. A is the principal
pier or jetty terminating in the platform or pier head B, from which
spring the two subsidiary piers or arms O, C. Rails are shown laid upon
all the piers, so that trains of carriages or waggons can be brought upon
either them for the purpose of landing or embarking passengers or
merchandise from or on vessels lying against the piers or against the
sides of the pier head B. '
'
Figure 2 shows a similar arrangement, but having seven subsidiary
piers or arms C, C, C, connected by means of the pier head B with the
principal pier or jetty A. Rails are shewn communicating with one
another upon all the piers for the same purpose as those shewn in
Figure 1, and the complete arrangement forms eight separate harbours
within which vessels may lie in safety in any state of wind or tide, from
which they are sheltered by means of the breakwaters (open or solid)
formed by the subsidiary piers C and the central platform B, which is
shewn having eight sides against which vessels may be placed.

page_text: In Figure 3 a somewhat similar arrangement is shewn, but the central
platform B is made circular instead of polygonal in plan, and the
subsidiary arms C, C, C, are made with platforms at their extremities
upon which signals or lights may be placed. Landing stages and stairs
are shown at D, against which vessels may be brought (as shewn), and
these landing stages are made with different stages so as to suit different
heights of the tide
In Figure 3 a somewhat similar arrangement is shewn, but the central
platform B is made circular instead of polygonal in plan, and the
subsidiary arms C, C, C, are made with platforms at their extremities
upon which signals or lights may be placed. Landing stages and stairs
are shown at D, against which vessels may be brought (as shewn), and
these landing stages are made with different stages so as to suit different
heights of the tide.
Similar landing stages may be used in any of the piers constructed
according to this Invention.
Above the platform B I sometimes construct platforms which may
serve as marine promenades, and I make them of such a height that
the traffic upon the platforms B may be carried on below them, and I
provide access to them by means of suitable staircases.
In Figures 4 and 5, which are drawn upon a smaller scale than
Figures 1, 2, and 3, the central marine promenade is shown.
Figure 6 shews an arrangement of breakwater which I prefer to use
in the piers or central platforms when these are constructed of piles.
The diagonal lines A, B, represent open work oblique breakwaters so
arranged as to break the waves with as little resistance as possible. I
place them either within the piers or outside them.
By this Invention I construct piers or breakwaters, so that vessels
may enter them safely at any state of wind or tide, by making subsidiary
piers straight or curved radiate from a central pier head or platform
communicating with the shore by means of a pier or jetty; such piers
being sometimes made open or partly open below water level, so that
the water passing through them may prevent the accumulation of sand
or mud, and the pier head or platform being available for the con-
struction of marine promenades as described. And basins being
sometimes formed within the piers so that vessels may be admitted, and
by them be raised or lowered to the height required for trains of
carriages to be placed on or removed from them.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Gordon Page in the Great Seal Patcut
Office on the 16th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
GORDON PAGE, of Gray's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Gordon Page, Her
special licence that I, the said George Gordon Page, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Gordon Page, 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 PIERS AND
BREAKWATERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said 2
George Gordon Page, 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 2
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Gordon Page, 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 and accompanying Drawing :—
3
The object of this Invention is to construct piers (to be used for the
purpose of landing and embarking passengers and merchandise) and
breakwaters in such a manner that they shall not be liable to silt up
with sand or mud; that steamers or other vessels may be able to come
alongside of them or into "locks" or basins formed within them, and to 3

page_text: land and embark passengers and merchandise at all states of wind and
tide; that parts of their superstructure may be used for the purpose of
marine promenades or roads, and that if required they may serve as deep
sea harbours of refuge.
For the purpose of carrying out my Invention I avail myself of the
natural level of the bed of the sea at that part of the shore where it is
intended that the pier or breakwater shall be constructed, and from the
shore I carry out a pier or jetty supported upon suitable piles, and of
such a length that its outer extremity shall be in sufficiently deep water.
And I make the outer extremity terminate in a pier head or platform
supported upon piles, or cylinders, or masonry, or upon other suitable
means of support in any of the methods well understood and practised.
And sometimes I make the pier heads floating instead of fixed, so that
the water may pass through them freely and thus prevent silting. And
from the pier head or platform described I make two or more subsidiary
piers or arms, straight or curved, radiating from the pier head; and I
prefer that these arms should make equal angles with each other and with
the main pier or jetty already described; but they may make greater or
less angles to suit the particular locality where the pier is constructed.
Sometimes I connect the pier head with the shore by means of a sub-
marine tunnel instead of a jetty.
The subsidiary piers or arms I construct upon piles, cylinders, or other
suitable supports, so that they serve as breakwaters to protect steamers
or other vessels lying between them, or sometimes I make them
floating. And upon these I form suitable stages and stairs for the
purpose of landing and embarking passengers or merchandise, and where
necessary I make these stages at different levels, so that they may be
available in different states and heights of the tide.
And sometimes I carry lines of railway along the principal pier or
jetty, which lines of railway are connected with others which pass along
the subsidiary piers or arms described, so that trains of carriages or
waggons may be brought to the spot where any steamer or other vessel
is being loaded or emptied, or the railways may be arranged so that
trains of carriages may be run directly upon or from the decks of steamers
or other suitable vessels.

page_text: By the arrangement described vessels can be brought to one or other
of the subsidiary piers or arms, or to the face of the pier head between
'the subsidiary arms in any condition of the wind or tide, and the
remaining piers or arms act as breakwaters to protect such vessels from
the force of the wind and waves.
By the construction of such piers or jetties having radial subsidiary
arms or piers at their extremities, as described, partially or entirely
supported upon piles or cylinders between which the water can pass, the
silting up of the piers is prevented.
Sometimes I place lights or signals of different colours or forms upon
the pier and at the extremity of each subsidiary pier or arm, so that
vessels may have no difficulty in entering the space between any two of
the piers that may be required, according to the state of the wind and
tide at the time.
Sometimes instead of making the subsidiary piers or arms described
form a part of the principal pier or jetty, I make the outer extremity of
the pier or jetty terminate in a pier head or platform (which I prefer to
make polygonal in plan), against which steamers or other vessels may
lic. And I make the subsidiary piers or arms (which may be straight or
curved) separate and independent, and I arrange them in such a position
.as to form breakwaters to protect vessels which may be lying against
the pier head, the piles supporting the pier head themselves also
forming a breakwater or protection from the wind and waves; or some-
⚫times I connect such breakwater to one or more of the subsidiary piers
or arms described.
I construct the pier head or platform so that it may serve the purpose
of a marine promenade or walk. For this purpose I prefer to clevate it
above the level of the roads upon the jetty and arms, and I form a path
or paths round it communicating with the principal pier or jetty, and
sometimes I form in its centre a building or pavilion in which music or
other amusement may be provided.
And sometimes in positions where advisable I make the piers or break-
'waters constructed as described serve the purpose of harbours of refuge,
the spaces between the subsidiary piers or arms forming harbours into
which vessels may enter for the purpose of sceking shelter from wind
or waves. And in some positions I make such harbours of refuge
independent, and not communicating with the shore.

page_text: Sometimes I protect the structures which form the piers and subsidiary.
piers or arms from the action of the waves by means of breakwaters,
having their surfaces arranged vertically or obliquely, which breakwaters
may be fixed or floating, and arranged in such a position that they meet:
the waves with as little resistance as possible from a point below the
level of low water to a point above the level of high water.
"
Sometimes I make one or more of the piers or arms double, so that
the space within so formed may serve the purpose of a basin or "lock
into which vessels may enter; and I make suitable water-tight gates to
such basin or lock, and I arrange the basin or lock so that when requisite.
I can raise any vessel within it by admitting additional water, and I
lower such vessel by discharging such additional water. And I obtain
water for this purpose either by admitting it from the sea when the tide
is sufficiently high, or by pumping it in, or admitting it from suitable
reservoirs provided on the shore. And by this method, when trains of.
carriages are to be placed on or removed from the vessels using such
basin or lock, I raise or lower the vessel to the exact height required
for the purpose at any height of the tide.
The accompanying Drawing is in illustration of my Invention, and
represents a pier head or platform connected with the shore by a principal
pier or jetty, and having four subsidiary piers or arms and a curved
breakwater connected to the extremities of two of the subsidiary piers
or arms.
A is the pier head or platform connected with the shore by the pier or
jetty B; C, C, C, C, are subsidiary piers or arms radiating from the pier
head A, and forming harbours within which vessels may lic, as shewn;
D is a breakwater connected to the extremities of two of the arms C.
The centre of the pier head or platform is shewn occupied by an
elevated building which may serve as a marine promenade.
Having now particularly described my Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I claim,―
First. The method of constructing piers and breakwaters by making a
pier head or platform connected with the shore by a pier or tunnel, or
altogether disconnected from the shore, and having straight or curved
arms radiating from it in such manner that vessels may come alongside
of them at all states of wind or tide; and that trains of carriages or

page_text: waggons may be brought alongside such vessels, such piers or heads
being sometimes made open or partly open below the water level, and
being available for the construction of marine promenades, substantially
as described and shewn in the Drawing.
Second. The combination with such pier head or platform and radiating
arms of other piers or breakwaters suitably arranged, and either connected
to or separate from the pier head and radiating arms, substantially as
described and shewn in the Drawing.
Third. The method of constructing such piers or pier arms as described
with basins or locks within them into which vessels may enter, and-may
be raised or lowered to any desired level, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Gordon Page, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
]
GEORGE GORDON PAGE. (L.S.)