AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING DRY Docкs.
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING DRY
Docкs. A communication.
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th February 1855.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County, of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of tho; said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING DRY
Docкs" to be as follows:-
In constructing dry docks according to this Invention, the natural clay
foundation is, used for the floor of the dock, the sides and back end being
formed of piles, the puddling between the inner and outer piling resting upon
the clay floor, and forming a continuation of it, after the manner in which
coffer, dams are puddled... The rows of piles are stayed by diagonal braces, and
are covered by suitable sheathing. Spur braces are driven into the foundation;
and secured at their tops to the interior row of piles, for the purpose of resisting
any lateral strain which may be brought to bear against the sides of the dock.
Between the spur braces cross sleepers are laid, and upon these the chock
blocks slide in the customary manner. These sleepers rest firmly upon the

page_text: natural floor of the dock, to which they transmit any weight which may be
imposed upon them.
For the purpose of forming abutments to resist the thrust of the dock gates,
a suitable space at either side of the entrance end of the dock is enclosed by
driving in square piles, and the space so enclosed is filled with clay, which, like
that in the sides of the locks, rests upon and forms a continuation of the
foundation; this piling is braced in the most substantial manner, and is made
as solid and unyielding as possible, and to these abutments the gates are hinged.
For the purpose of preventing the water from making its way beneath the
gates, the latter are made to shut against the tops of a row of sheet piling,
driven into the clay immediately within the bottom of the gate.
The spaco within the body of the dock, not being required to be left vacant,
is filled with clay, and serves still further to strengthen the sides of the dock
against the lateral thrust.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
1, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING DEY DOCKS," (communicated to me
from abroad), upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: 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
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 in and by the
following statement thereof, together with the Drawings hereto annexed, that
is to say:
Fig. 1 is a plan of the dock; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section, through the
centre of the same; Fig. 3, a front end view of the dock; Fig. 4, a transverse
section upon the line A, A, of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a section upon the line B, B, of
Fig. 1.
Permanent dry docks have heretofore been constructed of cut stone
masonry, laid either upon a natural foundation, or upon an artificial one
composed of piling and timber work. In the former case there is nothing to
prevent the water from finding its way beneath the masonry of the dock, and
upon the slightest displacement of the stones of the floor the dock leaks, and
ultimately the foundation beneath is impaired by the flow of water.
In the case where the masonry is laid upon a foundation of piling and
timber, it is found impossible to obtain a floor capable of supporting a heavy
partial strain, or one that can safely be trusted with a vessel that is much
hogged, as the great weight which is thus brought upon certain points causes
those points to yield, and thus the integrity of the floor is impaired.
To produce a dock that shall be free from these defects, and at the same
time to reduce the cost of these structures, is the object of the present
Invention. And this Invention consists in making use of the natural clay
foundation for the floor of the dock, the sides and back end being formed of
piles, the puddling between the inner and outer piling resting upon the clay
floor, and forming a continuation of it, after the manner in which coffer dams
are puddled, the front end of the dock through which the vessels are admitted
being occupied by the gates.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the Invention, I will
proceed to describe the manner in which it is carried out :-A spot is selected
for the locality of the dock where a clay foundation at the requisite depth
may be found. This may be upon the bank or within the river; in either case
the water is to be excluded from the vicinity of the operations by coffer dams,
pumping, &c. previous to commencing with the dock itself. The earth, mud,
or whatever else may overlay the natural clay stratum, is then to be cleaned
off down to the depth required. Into this clay, represented by C in the

page_text: Drawings, the inner and outer rows of piles a, a', are then driven; these piles
are stayed by the diagonal braces c, c', and aro covered with the sheathing b, b.
d are spur braces, which are driven, into the foundation, and secured.at their
tops to the interior piles a', and serve to resist any lateral strain which may
be brought to bear against the sides of the dock; fare cross sleepers, which
strut between the spur braces d, and upon which the chock blocks g.slido
in the customary manner. These sleepers rest firmly upon the natural floor
of the dock, to which they transmit any weight which may be imposed upon
them. his another set of sleepers, which strut between the piles a',. and are
sunk slightly beneath the level of the sleepers f, and into the surface of the
foundation clay. These latter sleepers are secured firmly to the piles, and are
braced in the most substantial manuer by the knees i. The space D, enclosed
between the rows of piles, is filled with puddling clay, resting directly upon the
surface of the natural clay stratum, which is cleaned off for the purpose of
receiving it. This puddling thus forms a.continuation of the floor of the dock
without interruption or crevice between them. m is a gutter through the
centre of the dock, in which any leakage which may take place finds its way
to the pumps in the engine house at E, the latter being erected over an
extension of the piling made for the purpose near the entrance of the dock.
For the purpose of forming abutments to resist the thrust of the gates, square
piles are driven, as seen at II, in contact with each other, the space enclosed
by them being also filled with clay, which, like that in the sides of the dock,
rests upon and forms a continuation of the foundation. This piling is braced
in the most substantial manner by knees n, Fig. 1, and is otherwise made as
solid and unyielding as possible. To these abutments H the gates F, G,
are hinged. For the purpose of preventing the water from making its way
beneath the gates, the latter are made to shut against the tops of a row
of sheet piling P, driven into the clay, as seen in Fig. 3, immediately within
the bottom of the gate. O are ways, upon which the rollers which support
the gates run, in the customary manner. The space R, within the body
of the dock, not being required to be left vacant, is filled with clay, as seen
in the Drawings, and serves still further to strengthen the sides of the dock
against the lateral thrust.
The advantages which a dock constructed upon this principle possesses over
all others heretofore constructed are many; a few of these advantages may be
enumerated as follows:-1st, the original cost is less than one-tenth of that
required for a permanent stone dock; 2nd, no partial strain upon any part
of the floor of the dock can possibly result in injury to the structure, as the
whole weight is borne by the natural stratum, and it matters not'where or to

page_text: what extent this weight be imposed upon the floor of the dock. This charac-
teristic renders this dock capable of accommodating vessels which are badly
hogged, and that would be in consequence refused admittance into any
other docks; 3rd, the dock is far more comfortable to the workmen than
a stone dock, which remains for a long time cold and damp after it is emptied
of water.
CLAIM.
I do not claim constructing a coffer dam by driving double rows of piles
aud filling the interspace with clay; but what I do claim as the Invention,
and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is, the method herein described of
constructing dry docks, by making use of the natural stratum of clay for the
floor of the dock and continuing the same up through the walls by means of
puddling, in the manner set forth, the front of the dock being furnished with
gates for the admission of the vessels, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.s.)