IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING OR COVERING ROADS AND OTHER WAYS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES
POOLE, of Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eleventh day of August, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Moses
Poole, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Moses Poole, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Moses Poole, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING OR COVERING ROADS AND OTHER
WAYS," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Moses
Poole, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW. KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Moses Poole, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say-
In order to form a good pavement for the public roads that will be
economied and yet last a considerable time, it is necessary that there should
be a sold base, at the same time one that is permeable; that there should be
a perfect cohesion and solidity of all the parts of which the pavement is
composed, in order that it may resist the pressure which is exercised upon
it by the weight of carriages passing over it, and also to allow for the
expansion which takes place from the damp, and from the effect of the frost;
and further, that the mode of joining the parts together should be easy and
expeditious, that the pavement may be easily and readily removed, without
any waste, when required for the repairs of the sewers, or for laying down
the pipes for water or for gas; and further, that the surface should be of
such a nature as to form a firm footing for the feet of horses, so as to prevent
them from slipping, and also prevent the wheels from forming ruts in the
roads; also, that the fibres of the wood should be placed in a particular direc-
tion, which is of very great benefit for the duration of the pavement. The
improvements in wood paving which will be afterwards described offer many
advantages, which will be pointed out. I would observe that the whole of
the conditions above described to form a good pavement are not required in
every description of pavement, but only in those of the public ways. This
observation is necessary, in order to explain why a different description of
different pavement is given. The Figures 1, 2, 24, and 7, 8, 9, represent
different solids or forms of blocks. The solid or form of blocks Figure 1, 11, is
a-quadrangular prism, inclined two ways, the base of which is a right angle,
a, b, c, d, or a, b, c, d, rising parallel to itself in the diagonal direction d, b,
for a row of blocks, and in opposite diagonal direction, c', a', for the following
row, and so on alternately changing the row, as shewn at Figures 3, 5, 6, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19. The solid or block shown at Figures 2, 2, is a
quadrangular prism, inclined in two ways, the base of which is a rhom-
boid, e, f, g, h, or e, f, g, h, rising parallel to itself, and obliquely in
a diagonal direction g, e, for a row, and in the opposite direction h¹, f³, for
the following row, and thus alternately changing the rows, as shewn at
Figures 20, 21. The Figure 4 shows an arrangement of the row of blocks
of the form shewn at Figure 2, and the following row of a similar form,
but the rhomboid of which has equal opposite angles, that is to say, the
two acute angles become obtuse, and the two obtuse angles become acute,
and they are thus placed alternately row for row, as shewn at Figure 2,

page_text: These several blocks are so arranged that they incline and press one upon
another in two ways, that is to say, the front always in the same direction,
and by their sides alternately from row to row, from left to right, and right
to left, as shewn at Figures 4, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.
The solid or block of which the pavement is constructed, shown at Figures
7, 8, 9, is a quadrangular prism, the base of which is a right angle, rising
perpendicularly and parallel to itself. This form of pavement may be advan-
tageously placed under large gateways, or courts, or other places less frequented
by heavy carriages. I prefer to have the blocks of oak instead of fir, as they
absorb considerable less moisture. The double obliquity of these blocks
already spoken of is a great assistance in obtaining that solidity of the whole
pavement, the means of doing which we shall afterwards describe, at the
same time it greatly assists the elasticity of the fibres of the wood, which is
very necessary to the preservation of paving in the public ways. The triple
obliquity of the blocks, Figures 4, 20, 21, procures the lateral inclination of
the joints in a diagonal way, relative to the direction of the road, which
reduces the injurious effect of the wheels, which pass over the joints in their
length, when they are presented parallel to the line of the way or road.
Before laying down the pavement the ground should be properly prepared by
levelling, and in some cases, where a great solidity is required, I put down a
quantity of oak lathes, placed and confined over each other, the open spaces
between which should not exceed the base of the block. This should be
covered with a layer of gravel or earth, which should be well beaten down.
The expense of this mode of preparing the foundation will not be found so
great as a foundation of concrete, and it will be less difficult when required
to be taken up for the opening of the sewers, or for the laying down gas, or
water pipes. Another advantage of this system over the concrete is, that after
the concrete is put down it requires some days before it is of a proper consistency
to have the pavement put down, and in case of the pavement requiring repair-
ing, the materials taken up may be again used. The bands or tongues which
connect and tie together the different blocks are of different characters. Those
shewn at Figures 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and marked l, m, n, are simple
supports resting npon the ground, and which are sunk a small distance in the
ground. Some of the blocks have grooves in them, which fit into them, and
tie or connect them together. The others, shewn at Figures 3, 5, 6, 10, 11,
and marked i, j, k, serve not only as supports, but as a means of fixing them
together, and retaining them downwards by their respective sides, so that they
will resist the expansion caused by dampness. These blocks rest not only
upon these different bars with which they are connected by their sides, but

page_text: they press also upon the area by resting upon the lower surface. The tongue
pieces O, shewn at Figures 4, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, are placed in such manner
that the one half fits into one row of blocks, and the other half into another,
.the. blocks having suitable grooves or recesses made therein. It will readily
be seen by this arrangement that the whole will be tied together in a very
solid. manner. The mode of paving shewn at Figures 4, 20, 21, has these
tougue pieces placed in parallel lines, as shewn at O. These tongue pieces
may be of any required length, or they may be so arranged with short pieces
sloping at. the end so as to join in the centre of the blocks, as shewn at
Figures 4, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21. The mode of paving shewn at
Figures 12, 13, 14, in which is shewn the section of the parts m, and the
corresponding one of the blocks is exposed, which would take away a portion
of the solidity of the pavement. To remedy this each block has a pin; which
passes through the preceding block, and the end of this pin passes into the
ground upon which the pavement is laid, and the great number of these pins
which hold the different blocks together render the whole pavement very
solid. The mode of paving shewn at Figures 7, 8, 9, in which the blocks
are of a rectangular form in every way, they are not supported or retained
by these pieces on which they rest, which pieces are also of a rectangular form,
but the solidity is obtained by means of tongue pieces q, which fit into grooves
in the blocks, and which, to connect the blocks together, are so arranged that
one half of the tongue piece is placed in one block and the other half in the
next one, which way they are tied together. The different form of blocks
described in Figures 1, 2, 21, 7, 8, 9, may be connected together by any of
the descriptions of bands or tongue pieces marked i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, and
the form of them may be varied as required, as also, in place of being made
of wood, they may be made of plates of iron. I have not thought it necessary
to give every size of which the blocks are made, as they may be increased
or diminished, but the form of them is given at Figures 1, 2, 21, 7, 8, 9, the
principle of these different systems being based in a general manner upon
the use of blocks of wood of the particular angle which they are intended
to be laid upon, supported and fixed together by means of the pins fixed in
the ground, in whatever number and manner they are fixed. The mode now
in use of making the grooves along and across the pavement, for the prevention
of the horses slipping, does not altogether produce the desired effect, but
often is the cause of ruts being formed lengthwise in the pavement. In
Figure 19 I have shewn a mode of forming grooves in the surface of the
blocks, crossing in two diagonal directions to the road, which will be found
to obviate these objections. This mode of grooving will be more advantageous

page_text: where the joints of the different blocks are in a diagonal direction, as shewn
at Figures 4 and 21, than when the joints are lengthways, but the same results
may be obtained with the mode shewn át Figures 10, 14, 15, 16, in making
them diagonal, according to the line r, Figure 10, or the reverse lines,
Figure 14. Figures 15 and 16 shews a mode of using blocks of different
descriptions of wood of different natures, such, for instance, as fir and oack;
the hardness and porosity of these woods being different, the slipperiness
would would not be so great as if the blocks of wood were all of the same
character. These may be laid down, row by row, of each sort, or part of row
may be of one sort and part of another, and the blocks may be of different
sizes. This arrangement will be found useful for steep places. The different
systems of paving which have been described may be readily removed, block
by block, when so required. They may be also put down in large pieces,
the separate blocks having been previously put together. The mode shewn
at Figures 4, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, offer great facilities, which may be done
by a nail fixed to each block, the four tongue pieces which surround the
pieces which are composed of a number of blocks joined together. These pieces
may remain thus tied together; and if it is required to take up the pavement
for repairing or other causes, the whole of these pieces may be taken up
at one time. This mode of connecting the blocks together will be found
to increase the solidity the paving over a greater surface, and the capa-
bility of taking up the paving will be much increased, and the time required
for that purpose much decreased. In arranging the different modes of paving
I employ a key block, the form of it being truncated, as shewn at t, Figures
8, 10, 11, in the part near the blocks, which prevents them rising by their
connection with the bands and tongue pieces which contain them. These
key blocks are fixed by means of a key, which enters under one of the
adjoining blocks, as may be seen in Figure 18, in which the head of key
block has passed quarter of a revolution under the joining block x. By
means of a key at T, the square adapts itself to the square of the said key.
The head of the key may also be placed under the band, which is close to it
at v, Figure 12. The blocks shewn at 12, 13, 14, are rendered solid by means
of the pins p, p, p, with which they are furnished. In the key block this
pin p may be suppressed. They may be fixed by the key v, as has been
before described. Another mode of taking up the parts of the pavement
without the use of the key blocks is by the employment of pieces of wood or
stone placed lengthwise of the gutters, as shewn at z, Figures 20, 21, and
against which the paving presses; and in order to take up the pavement it