IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS BY COMBINING CONCRETE, ASPHALTE, WOOD, AND IRON IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO FORM A DURABLE SUBSTANCE WHICH CAN BE READILY LAID, AND WILL AFFORD A FIRM FOOTHOLD FOR ANIMALS AND EASY TRAFFIC FOR VEHICLES."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Rogers, of No. 5, Owens Row, Saint John
Street Road, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS BY
COMBINING CONCRETE, ASPHALTE, WOOD, AND IRON IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO
FORM A DURABLE SUBSTANCE WHICH CAN BE READILY LAID, AND WILL AFFORD
A FIRM FOOTHOLD FOR ANIMALS AND EASY TRAFFIC FOR VEHICLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Rogers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th October 1872.
I, JOSEPH ROGERS, of No. 5, Owens Row, Saint John Street Road,
Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OP ROADS BY COMBINING CONCRETE, ASPHALTE, WOOD, AND IRON IN SUCH A MANNER
AS TO FORM A DURABLE SUBSTANCE WHICH CAN BE READILY LAID, AND WILL AFFORD
▲ FIRM FOOTHOLD FOR ANIMALS AND EASY TRAFFIC FOR VEHICLES," to be as
follows:-

page_text: asphalte, but generally one layer or stratum thereon; about one inch
thick will prove sufficient for all practical purposes; I then lay on the
asphalte so formed blocks or cubes of wood, set or placed at a sufficient
distance from each other to allow asphalte to be spread or poured
between the blocks respectively; I then fill up the interstices with
liquid asphalte, or preferentially with a flexible elastic compound for
which Letters Patent, No. 1336, Anno 1868, have been granted to me.
For roadways where there is unusual or extraordinary friction or wear
and tear, as for instance, alongside the curbs of pavements, turnings or
angles in thoroughfares, I place iron cubes cast the same shape as the
wooden blocks or cubes, or any other desired form, and these may be
laid alternately iron and wood, if so required, or as may be deemed
necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Rogers in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ROGERS, of No. 5, Owens Row, Saint John Street Road, Clerkenwell, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, hearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Joseph Rogers, Her special licence that
I, the said Joseph Rogers, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Joseph Rogers, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 ROADS BY COMBINING CONCRETE, ASPHALTE, WOOD, AND IRON IN SUCH A MANNER
AS TO FORM A DURABLE SUBSTANCE WHICH CAN BE READILY LAID, AND WILL Afford
A FIRM FOOTHOLD FOR ANIMALS, AND EASY TRAFFIC FOR VEHICLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Rogers, my exe-

page_text: cutors 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Rogers, 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:-
:-
I carry out this Invention by first forming a concrete foundation of
any desired thickness and grade; I then lay one or more layers of
asphalte or pitch, but generally one layer or stratum thereon, about one
inch thick will prove sufficient for all practical purposes; I then lay on
the asphalte or pitch so formed blocks or cubes of wood, set or placed at
a sufficient distance from cach other to allow asphalte or pitch to be
spread or poured between the blocks respectively; I then, if necessary,
fill up the interstices entirely with a further quantity of liquid asphalte
or pitch, or preferentially with a flexible elastic compound, for which
Letters Patent, No. 1336, in the year 1868, have been granted to me..
By these means the asphalte or pitch would first be poured or spread, so
as to entirely fill up the interstices, or if not to entirely fill them then
my compound referred to could be added to complete the filling. But I
may dispense altogether with the use of asphalte or pitch in filling up
the interstices partially or completely, and use my patent compound
referred to alone and in lieu of the asphalte or pitch.
For roadways where there is unusual or extraordinary friction or wear
and tear, as, for instance, alongside the kerbs of pavements, turnings, or
angles in thoroughfares, I apply iron cubes cast the same shape as the
wooden blocks or cubes, or any other desired form, and these may be
laid alternately, iron and wood, if so required, or as may be deemed
necessary.
In applying asphalte or pitch, I take the pitch obtained from coal tar,
and soften it by the addition of vegetable or mineral oils to render it
soluble, so that it will readily find its way between the interstices of the
wooden blocks; about 4 parts pitch to 1 part or more of oil.

page_text: In some cases I prefer to add a small proportion of caustic lime for
the purpose of neutralizing the loose oil, and rendering the composition
harder when ultimately set between the blocks.
The flexible clastic compound referred to by me as patented under
date 23 April, 1868, No. 1336, consists of certain residual products,
such for example, as cotton pitch, obtained in and resulting from the
treatment of vegetable oils, such as cotton seed oil, and from the dis-
tillation and refining of crude mineral and bituminous products, such as
coal, oil, and petroleum, and consists, firstly, in the admixture of the
before-mentioned residual products, or of any two or more of them
together, in such proportions as shall produce a material or materials
which shall possess such qualities as shall render them applicable to
the purposes herein-mentioned.
I employ a mixture consisting of about 2 parts by weight of the
solid residuum before referred to, and resulting from the treatment of
vegetable oils, such for example, as the solid foots from cotton sced oil,
or cotton pitch, and of about one part by weight of the fluid residuum
or liquid foots resulting from the rectification of petroleum or of coal oil.
This compound forms a substitute for asphalte or pitch, and is especially
applicable to the purposes of this Invention, and I use it in all examples
described in this Specification, whether for filling in the interstices
between the paving blocks, or for the foundation on which they rest,
for which latter purpose it is an admirable substitute for asphalte or
pitch, and will probably in future be solely used, thus dispensing entirely
with the use of asphalte in the construction of that description of pave-
ment. The blocks may be laid on the roadway or foundation separately
by means of moveable plank guages of requisite width, which would be
withdrawn prior to the pouring on of the pitch, or asphalte, or com-
position; so also in regard to the concrete foundation only. The blocks
should be desiccated, then boiled in the liquid composition referred to;
then strained off and dried; then dipped in marine glue in a heated
state, or in the composition, when the blocks are made into compound
blocks in a mould, as presently described.
In the Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a transverse section of the pave-
ment on asphalte, or composition, and concrete, Fig. 2 being a longi-
tudinal section of the same. a, a, are the blocks; b, the asphalte or
compound; c, the concrete.

page_text: Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views shewing asphalte or composition b.on
existing stone cubes d, d, the spaces or interstices f, f, being filled, as
described.
Fig. 5 represents a plan view of an iron frame g, jointed by hinges at
the corners as required, and capable of being opened and closed by
suitable clamps or fastenings; it forms a mould for the reception of
blocks a, a, treated as described to form a compound block suitable for
rapid paving.
Fig. 6 shews a lattice frame corresponding with the moulds and blocks.
It is placed on the mould, and the blocks being inserted between the
latticed spaces the frame is lifted off and composition or asphalte poured
in so as to set the whole as a composite block. Of course other series
of blocks may be arranged as desired on the same principle.
I shew at Fig. 7 a series of 11 blocks a, a, which would form a con.
venient composite block. When a number of these are laid down the
spaces existing at the situations h, h, would merely require to be filled
with separate single key blocks so as to bind the compound blocks firmly
together, aided by the ultimate filling in, and if necessary by the addition
of caulking as in ships' planks.
The existing asphalte roads would merely require about 2 or 3 feet
removed from the kerbs and a thin layer of fresh asphalte applied to
receive the blocks. The remaining surface of the existing asphalte
would then receive the blocks direct. By these means the road would
acquire somewhat of a barrel form, and the blocks near the kerb should
by preference be of iron and wood alternately to resist the wear of
traffic. The same would be the case in existing stone cubes of pavement
and in granite roads, but not in all-instances, such as when there would
be no objection to the rise of level near the kerb. The cost of this
pavement when applied to the three examples of existing stone cubes,
granite, or asphalte, would be very small, but when the road would
require to be entirely constructed by making a concrete foundation the
expense would of course be greater, but would still be cheaper than any
of the present methods of asphalte paving.
In the existing stone cube roads and granite roads a thin layer of
asphalte or my composition would be floated or packed over the surface
so as to obtain an uniform or level bearing, or in some cases concrete

page_text: and asphalte or composition would both be applied to effect this result.
In the asphalte roads the inequalities of level could be similarly treated
by addition of asphalte.
With regard to the wood blocks I prefer to use pitch pine on account
of its resinous properties, causing it to resist the action of water, and
affording a surface which is not slippery by contact of horses' shoes.
Or the pavement may be laid direct on a concrete foundation or on a
damp coursing on a concrete foundation.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I claim the improvements
in the construction of roads or pavements by the combinations and
arrangements of materials mentioned, and also the construction of the
compound or combined slabs or blocks with key blocks; and I especially
claim the application of the compound or composition described as a
substitute for asphalte and pitch in the formation of roadways and pave-
ment, substantially as herein specified and shewn by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Rogers, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
WILLIAM PAGDEN,
Sol'.,
173, Fenchurch St.
London.
JOSEPH ROGERS. (L.S.)