IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PAVEMENTS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, JAMES KERR, of 118 Queen Victoria Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PAVEMENTS" to be as follows:-
My invention relates to pavements of that class in which blocks of wood or
other material are placed on a concrete foundation.
Methods heretofore employed of constructing wood paving for streets consist in
placing the blocks on planks or boards and other foundations of shingle or ballast
and filling up the joints with lime or cement grouting, or with bituminous com-
positions, all of which have been so affected by wet or changes of temperature that
they have caused more or less the destruction of the pavement, or have otherwise
partially failed.
By my invention I entirely dispense with the methods above described and
proceed as follows, that is to say after preparing the ground to the requisite
depth I lay thereon a bed of properly prepared concrete and I place directly on the
concrete the wood blocks which have been previously prepared in a pickle of
creosote oil which adapts the wood to take, or partially absorb, a specially prepared
asphalt, the combination being so complete that it enters the wood and fixes the
blocks so firmly that the wood itself will break when the blocks are being pulled
apart; the preparation, combined with the asphalt used, is like using sal-aminoniac
to apply solder to iron; it enters the wood and flows around the block forming a
shoe or clamp around the base thereof.
This mode of preparing the blocks effects great saving of time and expense in
wood paving and hermetically seals up the pavement and prevents the percolation
of water through the same, the bulging up of the pavement, and the disturbance of
the kerbs through expansion.
In carrying the said invention into practice the wood blocks are laid on their
concrete bed about three eighths of an inch apart and a specially prepared bitumen
or bituminous composition or mixture is run between the blocks to the depth of
about an inch, thereby fixing the blocks so effectually that the other operation of
filling up the remaining portion of the interstices can be proceeded with at once
and the whole allowed to consolidate thoroughly, by reason of the solid manner in
which the blocks are held by this mixture. The said bitumen or mixture moreover
actually pentrates into the substance of the blocks as above stated,

page_text: I prefer that this bitumen or composition should consist of the following
ingredients, viz, Best British pitch; green or heavy oil; and whiting powder, in
the following proportions, viz, Five parts by weight of the pitch, one part by weight
of the oil, and one part by weight or the whiting powder.
This substance hermetically scals up the pavement and prevents the percolation
of water through it, and from its position at the base of the block is not affected by
atmospheric changes, especially great heat or severe cold, the large space above
being filled up with a substance that prevents any atmospheric or climatic action;
and the whole will be sufficiently elastic or yielding to allow for any slight
expansion which the blocks, although prepared as above described, may have. The
upper portion of the interstices between the blocks is filled up with lime or cement
grouting, which in its liquid state, will, to a great extent, exhaust all of the
expansion that can take place in the blocks while the work is proceeding thereby
preventing the disturbance of the pavement from expansion when finished; the
grouting will also be yielding or compressible in consolidating, thus providing for
any expansion of the wood blocks.
By these precautions I effectually provide for the prevention of such a dis-
turbance of the blocks as would force the kerb-stones out of place, or bulge up the
pavement.
Dated this 5th don of Anvil 1001

page_text: I, JAMES KERR, of 118 Queen Victoria Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PAVEMENTS" and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to pavements of that class in which blocks of wood are
placed on a concrete foundation.
In constructing wood-paving for streets, according to methods heretofore adopted,
the blocks have been placed on planks or boards and other foundations of shingle
or ballast and the joints or spaces between the blocks have been filled up with lime
or cement grouting, or with bituminous compositions. These methods have partially
failed and the pavements constructed according thereto have been so affected by wet
or by changes of temperature that they have become comparatively useless and
required renewal in'a short space of time.
By my invention I entirely obviate these objections and provide a pavement
which is exceedingly durable.
In carrying my said invention into practice, I proceed as follows, that is to say,
after preparing the ground to the requisite depth, I lay thereon a bed of properly
prepared concrete, and I place directly on the concrete the wood blocks, which have
been previously subjected to the action of a pickle of creosote oil, which oil adapts
the wood to absorb, or partially absorb, the asphalt, bitumen or bituminous com-
position. I then partially fill the interstices between the blocks with the said
asphalt, bitumen or composition and fill up the remainder of the interstices with
lime or cement grouting.
The treatment with the oil and asphalt or bitumen produces a result like that
obtained when sal-ammoniac is used to apply solder to iron; the bitumen or
composition enters the wood and flows around the block forming a shoe or clamp
around the base thereof; and the combination of the bitumen or composition with
the blocks is so complete, and the said blocks are so firmly united, that the wood
itself will break more readily than the blocks will separate, when attempts are
made to pull the latter apart.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which
Figure 1 represents a transverse section of the paving of a street, constructed
according to my invention,
Figure 2 represents a portion of the same, drawn to an enlarged scale.
The blocks a are laid on their concrete bed b about three-eighths of an inch
apart, and bitumen or bituminous composition is run between the blocks a to the
depth of about an inch, as shewn at c, thereby fixing the blocks so effectually, by
reason of the solid manner in which they are held by this material (which as above
stated actually penetrates into the substance of the blocks), that the operation of
filling up the remaining portion of the interstices can be proceeded with at once,
and the whole allowed to consolidate thoroughly.
The upper portion of the interstices between the blocks is filled up, as shewn
at d, with lime or cement grouting, which, in its liquid or plastic state, will to a
great extent exhaust all of the expansion that can take place in the blocks while
the work is proceeding, thereby preventing the disturbance, by expansion, of the
pavement when finished; the grouting will, moreover, be yielding or compressible
in consolidating and in the event of any expansion of the wood blocks.

page_text: I prefer that the bitumen or composition should consist of the following
ingredients, in, or about in, the proportions named, that is to say-Five parts by
weight of best British pitch; one part by weight of green or heavy oil; and one
part by weight of whiting powder. This composition hermetically seals up the
pavement and prevents the percolation of water through it.
It is a very important feature of my invention that the asphalt, bitumen or
bituminous composition is run in between the blocks only for a slight depth as
above described, because, by reason of its position at the base of the block, it is
not affected by atmospheric changes, especially great heat or severe cold, the largo
space above it being filled up with a substance that prevents any atmospheric or
climatic action; but it is, at the same time, sufficiently elastic or yielding to allow
for any slight expansion which the blocks, although prepared as above described,
may undergo.
This mode of preparing and laying the blocks effects great saving of time and
expense in wood paving, and, as above stated, hermetically scals up the pavement.
and. prevents the percolation of water through the same. It also prevents the
bulging up of the pavement, and the disturbance of the kerbs through expansion,
that is to say, it prevents such a disturbance of the blocks as would force the
kerb-stones out of place, or bulge up the pavement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
The construction of a pavement by laying down a bed or foundation of concrete
and placing directly thereon wood blocks impregnated with creosote oil as above
described, which blocks are laid with a space between them, and then filling the
lower portion of the said space with bitumen or bituminous composition, and the
upper and greater portion thereof with lime or cement grouting, all substantially
as, and for the purposes, specified...