THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth, of No. 57, New Bond
Street, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES."
Sealed the 14th March 1856, and dated the 15th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Paul Frederick Wohlge-
muth at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th September 1855.
I, PAUL FREDERICK WOHLGEMUTH, of No. 57, New Bond Street, Hanover
Square, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES" to be as follows:-
Pontoon-shaped iron boats, 150 feet long by 16 feet wide & 11 feet deep,
having concave sides & bottoms, hollow iron stanchions 30 feet apart from
each other, with iron compartments between, made to open from the top on
centres, would form bulwarks some 15 feet high; two or more of these boats
braced together with diagonal tie bars 6 feet span between each, giving as
great a breadth as might be required, whilst the number of iron boats required
to complete the bridge would be determined by its length; the bottoms
of the boats to be firmly tied together by a circular concave iron frame,
keeping under water a number of hollow iron cylinders or caissons, their size
to be determined by the weight it would be likely to bear.
Two piers to be

page_text: erected on either side of the platform thus obtained, braced together with
horizontal tie bars on the width side; the length sides to be braced together
with circular tie bars, one of which is to be opposed to the other, the bottom
one forming the arch; the platform to be of curigated iron & wood firmly
bolted together, & the whole of the construction to present such a surface as
to be sufficient to act as a floating breakwater in the roughest sea.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PAUL
FREDERICK WOHLGEMUTH, of No. 57, New Bond Street, Hanover Square, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth, Her special licence that I, the said
Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth, 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 "THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES,"
upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth, 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 next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth, 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 (that is to say):-
I propose to construct bridges as follows:-Pontoon-shaped iron boats,

page_text: 200 feet long (more or less) by 70 feet wide (more or less) and 40 feet deep
(more or less), having concave sides and bottoms, hollow iron stanchions 30
feet apart from each other, with iron compartments between made to open
from the top on centres, and having bulwarks 20 feet high (more or less).
Two or more of these boats may be braced together with diagonal tie bars,
6 feet span between each if a greater breadth than one might be required,
whilst the number of iron boats required to complete the bridge would be
determined by its length; the bottoms of the boats to be firmly tied together
by a circular concave iron frame, keeping under water a number of hollow iron
caissons or cylinders, the size and length of which must be regulated by the
weight it will have to bear, and at 50 feet (more or less) from the surface of
the water. One or more piers, 100 feet high (more or less), can be erected
on the platform, and braced together by diagonal tie bars, forming frames on
either side to support the top and sides of piers, themselves being the starting
point of the arches, which may be 150 feet to 200 feet span (more or less),
according to circumstances, in which latter case it may be advisable to have a
circular tic bar opposed in the reverse position to the arches, and supporting it
by perpendicular tie bars attached thereto. The platform to be of corrugated
iron and wood firmly bolted together. Every 5th, 10th, or 15th pontoon, as
it may be required, would have attached to it by a ring an iron chain, the
extremity of which would be attached to another ring, firmly let into a large
stone, and sunk or made fast at the bottom of the sea. Every pontoon is to
be protected on all sides from the violence of the sea and ships coming against
them by concave iron bars, superfixed to one another and acting upon springs.
The whole of the bridge is so constructed as to form such a surface as to be
sufficient to act as a floating breakwater in the roughest sea.
On the platform may be placed rails for railways, and every other arch on
either side may be illuminated by gas, electricity, or any other advantageous
mode. By the means above described a bridge could be successfully constructed
even if it were one thousand miles in length, if the expenses of such con-
struction were in accordance with its utility. The rise and fall of the sea may
be regulated by water let into the iron compartments, and let out again by
engines or other mechanical means. A raised platform would be erected to
meet it from the shore.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have it
distinctly understood that I do not claim the precise arrangement herein
specified; but what I do claim is, the principle of forming a bridge to success-
fully compete or combat with the most violent waves and winds by pontoons
(in whatever material it may be expedient to construct them) tied together

page_text: under the surface of the water by semicircular tie bars, and forming a frame
to hold caissons or cylinders, sunk at a depth sufficient to allow the ships of
the heaviest burthen to pass in the roughest weather, and to clear the arches
of the bridge.
In witness whereof, I, the said Paul Frederick Wohlgemuth, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
PAUL FREDERICK WOHLGEMUTH. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN ROWLAND,
4, Cecil Street, Strand.