A MODE OR METHOD OF LAYING PIPES ACROSS RIVERS, CREEKS, LAKES, AND OTHER PIECES OF WATER
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "A MODE OR METHOD OF LAYING PIPES ACROSS RIVERS, CREEKS, LAKES,
AND OTHER PIECES OF WATER. -A communication from abroad by
John Frothingham Ward, of Jersey City, Bergen County, New
Taman
"
Tuited States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th March 1873.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "A MODE OR METHOD OF LAYING PIPES ACROSS RIVERS,
CREEKS, LAKES, AND OTHER PIECES OF WATER," a communication to me from

page_text: abroad by John Frothingham Ward, of Jersey City, Bergen County,
New Jersey, United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a mode or method of laying pipes across
rivers, creeks, lakes, and similar pieces of water with facility and com-
paratively little expense.
The pipes to be laid on the bed of the river or creek have ball and
socket or other flexible joints. They can be made for instance in
accordance with the Invention for which Provisional Protection was
granted to me bearing date the 13th day of November 1872, Number
3386, in which the joints are of the ball and socket character, with a
leaden packing, and admit of considerable deflection from a right line
in laying the pipes on an irregular surface.
In laying pipes according to this Invention two barges are employed,
between which is suspended by chains a cradle of wood or iron, the
lower end extending to the bed of the river and the upper end projecting
above the surface of the water.
The lengths of pipe connected together with ball and socket joints
rest partly on the bed of the river and partly on the cradle during the
operation of laying, the end of the highest pipe projecting above the
surface of the water, and the barges being properly anchored so as to
resist the tendency of the pipes on the cradle to force the said barges
and cradle out of position.
By suitable shears on the barges one length after another of pipe is
hoisted and the end adjusted to the socket of the highest pipe on the
cradle, and the joint is completed, after which the barges are loosened
from their anchorage and permitted to move sufficiently far to enable
another length to be deposited on the bed of the river whilst the greater
portion of the last length added is submerged, its socket only remaining
above water, when the barges are again anchored prior to the addition
of another length. Thus length after length is added, the barges and
the cradle receding from the shore where the first length was laid until
they arrive at the opposite shore, leaving behind them a continuous pipe
consisting of lengths coupled together so that the pipe can accommodate
itself to the irregular surface of the bed of the river or creck.
The cradle may be made in different ways; for example, it may consist

page_text: of two main beams connected together by transverse bars, to which is
secured a central board on which the pipes bear, while they are steadied
laterally by two main beams.
It has been found that in laying pipes of small diameter, say up to 6
or 7 inches, the supporting cradle may be dispensed with if the joints
are properly made.
The end of one pipe may have a spherical socket, in the interior of
which is cast lead surrounding the cylindrical end of the adjoining pipe,
which is formed with annular grooves or rings for retaining the lead,
thus rendering it an inseparable part of the said pipe and enabling it to
move in the said spherical socket, which is so formed as to arrest the
pipe when it has been deflected to a given distance from a right line.
In laying pipes of small bore they are simply lowered over the stern
of a barge, adding length after length, and causing the barge to recede
after each joint is completed. The lengths extending from the bed of
the river to the barge will sustain themselves at a curvature determined
by the contact of one length with the socket of the adjacent length
without the aid of a cradle to support them and without danger of
fracture owing to the comparative lightness of the pipes. When the
latter exceed 8 inches in diameter however it is advisable to use a cradle
in the manner described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by..Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special

page_text: license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and 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
"A MODE OR METHOD OF LAYING PIPES ACROSS RIVERS, CREEKS, LAKES, AND
OTHER PIECES OF WATER," a communication to me from abroad by John
Frothingham Ward, of Jersey City, Bergen County, New Jersey, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 1
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 John Henry Johnson, 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 2
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
The said Invention consists of a mode or method of laying pipes
across rivers, creeks, lakes, and similar pieces of water with facility and 2
comparatively little expense.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings is a vertical section of
the cradle and a side view of one of the barges, by which the Invention
is carried into effect; Figure 2 is an end view of Figure 1; and Figure 3
is a sectional view of the pipe joint, illustrating a modified plan of laying 3
light pipes of small diameter.
In Figures 1 and 2 A and A² represent two barges floating in a river
or creek, of which the line B represents the surface of the water and D
the bed.
The pipes to be laid on the bed of the river or creek have ball and 3
socket or other flexible joints. They can be made for instance in accord-

page_text: ance with the Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me
bearing date the Thirteenth of November One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-two, No. 3386, in which the joints are of the ball and socket.
character, with a leaden packing, and admit of considerable deflection
from a right line in laying the pipes on an irregular surface.
In laying pipes according to this Invention two barges A and A¹ are
employed, between which is suspended by chains a, a, a cradle E of wood
or iron, the lower end extending to the bed of the river and the upper
end projecting above the surface of the water.
In Figure 1 a number of lengths of pipe m, m, connected together
with ball and socket joints are shown as resting partly on the bed of the
river and partly on the cradle E, the end of the highest pipe projecting
above the surface of the water, and the barges being properly anchored
so as to resist the tendency of the pipes on the cradle to force the said
barges and cradle out of position.
By suitable shears on the barges one length after another of pipe is
hoisted and the end adjusted to the socket of the highest pipe on the
cradle, and the joint is completed, after which the barges are loosened
from their anchorage and permitted to move sufficiently far to enable
another length to be deposited on the bed of the river, whilst the greater
portion of the last length added is submerged, its socket only remaining
above water, when the barges are again anchored prior to the addition of
another length. Thus length after length is added, the barges and the
cradle receding from the shore where the first length was laid until they
arrive at the opposite shore, leaving behind them a continuous pipe
consisting of lengths coupled together, so that the pipe can accommodate
itself to the irregular surface of the bed of the river or creek.
It may be remarked that lines of thirty-six inch pipe have been laid
across the Hackensack and Schuylkill Rivers, in the United States,
according to the above plan at a much less expense than pipes could be
laid by the plans heretofore adopted.
The cradle E may be made in different ways. In the Drawing it is
illustrated as consisting of two main beams 6, 6³, connected together by
transverse bars d, d, to which is secured a central board (shown in dotted
lines in Figure 2) on which the pipes bear, while they are steadied
laterally by the two main beams.

page_text: It has been found that in laying pipes of small diameter, say up to
six or seven inches, the supporting cradle may be dispensed with if the
joints are properly made.
Figure 3 shows a section of the joint of a six-inch pipe, the end of
the pipe M having a spherical socket, in the interior of which is cast 5
lead surrounding the cylindrical end of the adjoining pipe M', on which
are rings for retaining the lead, thus rendering it an inseparable part of
the said pipe and enabling it to move in the said spherical socket, which
is so formed as to arrest the pipe when it has been deflected to a given
distance from a right line. Thus it will be seen on referring to Figure 3 1
that the pipe M³ cannot be deflected in the direction of the arrow beyond
the point shown owing to it coming in contact with the edge e of the
socket of the pipe M.
In laying pipes of small bore they are simply lowered over the stern
of a barge, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 1, adding length after 1
length, and causing the barge to recede after each joint is completed.
The lengths extending from the bed of the river to the barge will
sustain themselves at a curvature determined by the contact of one
length with the socket of the adjacent length without the aid of a cradle
to support them and without danger of fracture owing to the comparative 2
lightness of the pipes. When the latter exceed eight inches in diameter
however it is advisable to use a cradle in the manner described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider 2
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. Laying light cast-iron pipes having ball and socket or other
flexible joints across rivers, creeks, and other pieces of water by con-
necting together length after length on a barge or other floating object, 3
lowering the lengths therefrom, permitting one length to come in contact
with the socket of the adjoining length, and causing the barge to recede
as the lengths are added, all as herein set forth.
Secondly. Laying heavy pipes across rivers, creeks, and other pieces
of water by means of a cradle arranged between and connected to barcos 3

page_text: or other floating objects, and causing the same to recede as length after
length is added to the pipe, all substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of
September One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.