IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKWATERS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BAIL AND OTHER WAYS THEREON."
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Dominique Tamet, of No. 103, Vieille Route à
Neuilly-sur-Seine, (Empire Français), in the Empire of France, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKWATERS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF BAIL AND OTHER WAYS THEREON."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Dominique Tamet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
July 1868.
I, DOMINIQUE TAMET, of No. 108; Vieille Route à Neuilly-sur-Seine,
(Empire Français), in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKWATERS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF RAIL AND OTHER WAYS THEREON," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct floating breakwaters of wood
(without masonry to support them) for the purpose of breaking the waves,
and thereby producing a comparative calm sufficient for the purpose of
establishing small ports or harbours of refuge at any point of the coast. They
may also be used for the purpose of protecting the mouths of rivers from the
effects of heavy weather, which renders the entrance or exit from such rivers
difficult.
The advantage of this Invention is the capability of placing at any point
this description of breakwater without the necessity of submarine work, other
than securing the chains or the placing of the anchors, which are for the

page_text: purpose of giving to these breakwaters, if not a a complete immobility, at least
a sufficient rigidity to resist the waves, and to break them in their passage.
Another object of this Invention is the application of this arrangement of
mole or breakwater to effect the establishment of a railway, or other kind
of road for vehicles or foot passengers, constructed on the same principle as
the moles or break waters themselves for the purpose of uniting two shores
or banks.
For the purpose of fully explaining the nature and object of the said Inven-
tion, I will describe it more in detail. I form a flat foundation of. wood or a
kind of raft; upon this raft are fixed rows of open woodwork framing, some-
what of the character of latticework, placed in such manner that the crossings
of the one shall be opposite the spaces or lozenge-formed openings in the
other, in order to prevent as much as possible the direct passage of the waves
without their meeting with some part or crossing of the wooden framings
which would break them. The number of rows may vary from three to ten,
more or less, according to the force of the waves at the points to be protected
by them. These rows of wooden framework should be from 35 to 50 feet in
height, more or less, according to the places to be protected, and to be 'fixed
at each side by chains or cables fixed to the bottom of the sea by anchors or
otherwise. The raft or foundation of these rows of wooden framework by the
tension of the said chains or cables should be held to a depth of from 25 to 30
feet below the mean level of the sea, at which depth the water remains almost
calm during the most violent storms on the surface. The raft is constructed
in such proportions that notwithstanding the superincumbent weight of the
rows of wooden framework it tends always to rise with force above the level
at which the chains and cables hold it, and it is this which gives it an almost
complete immobility. The chains and cables of each side fixed to the bottom
of the sea do not descend vertically, but at an angle sufficiently obtuse to
maintain the wooden framework in a central position from which it cannot
shift, and the tendency to rise to the surface, which is given to it by the raft
or foundation, completes it stability by stretching the chains and cables very
considerably. The raft, as also the framework of wood which it supports, not
presenting to the waves a' large continuous surface, like the side of a' ship,
does not tend so much to be carried away. The rows of wood'exceed by some
yards the height of the highest ascertained levels during storms and high
tides. The framework for railways or other description of road is also con
structed of wood, but the rows are composed of timbers placed perpendicularly
to the raft or foundation instead of being crossed like those for the moles or
breakwaters, and are all upon the same line contrary for those for breakwaters,

page_text: and at the same level. The raft upon which they are fixed may have its sides
of plain woodwork descending into the sea from 6 to 9 feet, more or less, in
such a manner as to produce the effect of a box with its bottom upward.
These sides would afford extra means of preventing the oscillations of the upper
part. The chains and cables, for the purpose of fixing the raft, are of a
similar character to those for securing the breakwaters, and the number should
be determined by the strength required. The railways or other roads are
flanked at each side at a suitable distance by a breakwater, and have a certain
number of moveable bridges for the passage of ships; the breakwaters have an
opening opposite the moveable bridges, which opening is protected against the
waves by a breakwater similar to the others of a length determined by that of
the bridge, and that of the opening itself. Buoys or hollow caissons of sheet
iron, wood, india-rubber, or other suitable material may be used; if required,
to give a greater tendency to the raft to rise to the surface. Floating moles
or breakwaters may be fixed in long lengths or in short lengths; in this latter
case it is convenient to place them in two rows close to each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Dominique Tamet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DOMINIQUE
TAMET, of No. 103, Vieille Route à Neuilly-sur-Seine (Empire Francais), in
the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord. One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Dominique Tamet, Her special licence that I, the said Dominique Tamet,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Domi-
nique Tamet, 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 Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREAKWATERS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAIL AND OTHER WAYS THEREON,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Dominique Tamet, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,

page_text: 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 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 I, the said Dominique Tamet, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
pérformed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:
• Several projects for a railway crossing the British Channel or Manche have
been proposed within the last few years. None till now have combined
practicability, security, and economy so as to permit its adoption and con-
struction.
I will proceed to describe my system. It is known that whatever may be
the impetuosity of a storm the waves do not mount higher that twenty-four feet
above the common level of the water, nor flow down more than 24 feet under
it, that is to say, at 24 feet in depth the sea is quite calm. This point well
understood, my system of "floating breakwaters" is as follows:-I form a
sort of timber raft or a box of sheet iron, upon which I place five rows of
beams forming a diagonal framework, and placed in such a way that the
lozenges of the first row may be opposite to the cross bars of the second, and
so forth. The whole height from the raft to the top of the rows of the frame-
work should be from 55 to 60 feet at least. The raft is provided on each side
with chains and cables, strongly anchored or fastened at the bottom of the sea.
The chains or cables are arranged to keep the raft sunk down to 25 feet at
least under the surface level. In this manner the force of the water under the
timbers, tending constantly to push the raft to the surface, the side chains and
cables will be kept strongly stretched, and the bed of water under the raft
being free from the movement, as has been stated in the beginning, and never
ploughed by the waves, the raft will consequently be neither moved upwards
nor downwards. This bed of water sustaining the raft has everywhere the
same firmness, the same calm, and the same power of floatation, therefore the
upward force will be the same everywhere, and nothing can disjoint the frame
of the raft, which is maintained by its chains unmoved in the midst of the
water. However, the framework will be caused to vibrate or oscillate slightly
by the upper waves; but it is this very freedom to oscillate, this kind of
buoyancy of the whole apparatus, which gives efficacy to it. The sea overthrows
what forms an obstacle to it, but only bodies which oppose a firm resistance to

page_text: them, the waves either break or are themselves broken. As soon as they are
broken they lose all force and are immediately destroyed. Timber works are
at present fixed upon the dikes or embankments of many ports, they, however,
are not constructed so conveniently as mine to break the waves. It would be a
great error to suppose that they break the waves and render the sea calm in the
port in consequence of being fixed upon a stone mole; or to suppose the stone
mole to be the only cause of that calmness; the timber works break the upper
waves, and they could break also the inferior ones, if they, instead of the stone
mole, were in the course of the lower waves. The motionless bed of water
upon which the raft lies supplies the place of the stone mole, and the chains
being always strongly stretched by the force of floatation secure a sufficient
immobility for the whole.
The efficacy of my floating breakwater being admitted, I form two of them
from Dover to Calais (or other places) either in parts or each in one single
length, except the openings for the passage of the vessels, which openings
ought to be sheltered from the entrance of the waves by other portions of the
same crossed breakwaters. Between these two long floating breakwaters a
space of about 150 feet is left, in which the water will be calm, or only slightly
agitated. It will be like a sort of channel with calm water in the agitated
sea sheltered from the fury of the waves. In the centre of this channel I
place the railway. Founded upon the same system of the floating break-
waters, it will be formed with a raft surmounted by rows of beams, but
instead of being put together in a diagonal way, the timbers will be placed
perpendicularly in a parallel way in every direction. For the breakwaters I
wish to oppose as many obstacles as possible to the waves for the purpose of
breaking them wholly; for the railway, on the contrary, I wish to offer the
least surface possible exposed to the waves. The raft is anchored by chains
like the breakwater, it is sunk down to the calm bed of water about 25 or 30
feet in depth; it will likewise tend to the surface by its power of floatation,
and its chains will be also strongly stretched. It will be much more motionless
than the breakwater, as it cannot be reached by the waves of the open sea,
being laid in a sort of port sheltered by two breakwaters. It is upon this
frame that I shall construct the solid floor on which the rails are to be fixed.
Each side will be supplied with strong handrails and footways three feet high;
another footway of the same height will separate the ways for going and
returning, and the rails themselves will be fixed in the bottom of a deep
groove, in which the wheels of the carriages will be sunk nearly up to the
nave in such a manner that if any movement were produced to the frame by
the weight of the train it would be impossible for the carriages to run off the

page_text: rails. Two openings, at least 100 feet wide, would be preserved for the passage
of ships. There is in the port of Brest, in France, a bridge 300 feet long,
which 4 men can open or shut in two minutes, and these passages would be
bridged over in a somewhat similar manner. I leave to the engineers to decide
the best system to employ in such a case. The Governments would, for mutual
convenience, make the regulations for the openings of those bridges; several
lighthouses would be established upon the breakwaters, and an electric
telegraph too. Some small steamers would inspect the work continually, and
would help the vessels to pass through the openings when the state of the sea
might occasion some difficulty in making the entrance.
I do not pretend to state here the exact proportions, nor all the means of
construction which can be employed on such a work; I leave all these matters
to the engineers. I have exposed to view only the idea of my floating break-
waters, and if its efficacy be admitted, the floating railway, by the system above
described, will offer neither difficulty nor danger. My breakwaters will be for
a great number of small ports and creeks along the sea shores in every country
a very powerful means of extending and securing the navigation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Dominique Tamet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
DOMINIQUE TAMET. (L.S.)