Iμ- PROVEMENTS IN GIRDERS FOR BRIDGES, VIADUCTS, PIERS, JETTIES, AND BUILDINGS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Nathan Maynard, of the Viaduct Works,
Crumlin, in the County of Monmouth, for the Invention of "Iμ-
PROVEMENTS IN GIRDERS FOR BRIDGES, VIADUCTS, PIERS, JETTIES, AND
BUILDINGS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES."
Sealed the 28th May 1869, and dated the 2nd December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Nathan
Maynard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd December 1868.
I, HENRY NATHAN MAYNARD, of the Viaduct Works, Crumlin, in
the County of Monmouth, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GIRDERS FOR BRIDGES, VIADUCTS, PIERS,
JETTIES, AND BUILDINGS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has principally for its object so to construct girders
for bridges, viaducts, piers, jetties, and other structures, as also for
buildings, that no part thereof shall be of greater weight than can be

page_text: carried by a horse or other beast of burden or by one or more men
in order to facilitate the transport of such girders across countries
that are inaccessible for other means of transport. For this purpose
I construct such girders on the lattice principle, the upper or com
pression part of which is formed of comparatively short lengths of
iron tubes or pipes, while the lower or tension part is formed of ropes or
strands of metal wire or of hoop iron. The arrangements for carrying
out this system of construction may be variously modified, thus in
girders for large spans the tubes or pipes are provided with flanges at
their ends, by which they are holted together with a plate intervening
between the two flanges, such plate being made to project above and
below the flanges, and to the lower part of which plate are attached
the vertical struts and the diagonals of the girler, while to the upper
part of the plate are attached the angle or T iron transverse connecting
pieces, also serving as supports to the roadway. For girders of smaller
span the pipes may be formed without flanges at their ends, and the
Hengths-are-connected-together-by-means-of core-pieces-passing_into_the
two abutting ends into which they are screwed or keyed, a plate carried
by the core picce and nipped between the ends of the tubes serving as
the point of attachment for the other parts of the girder as before. The
lower ends of the vertical struts of the girder are connected to a
longitudinal plate to which are secured the wire ropes or bundles of
hoop iron serving as the lower or tension flange of the girder, and which
may be conveniently carried between the under side of the longitudinal
plate and other short plates suspended from the longitudinal plate
by means of screw bolts passing between the wire ropes or hoop iron.
The piers or supports for such girders I also construct by preference of
short lengths of flanged pipes or tubes bolted together end to end,
with horizontal plates intervening between the flanges for tying
together the several tubular supports forming the pier. Suitable
diagonal bars or rods are also provided between the supports in
the usual manner for bracing the structure. I do not however
limit myself to nor do I claim this mode of constructing such piers
or supports.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Nathan Maynard in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
NATHAN MAYNARD, of the Viaduct Works, Crumlin, in the County of
Moumouth, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Nathan Maynard, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Nathan Maynard, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Nathan
Maynard, 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GIRDERS FOR BRIDGES, VIADUCTS, PIERS,
JETTIES, AND BUILDINGS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES,' upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Nathan Mayuard, 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 Henry Nathan Maynard 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, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say :-
My Invention has principally for its object so to construct girders,
for bridges, viaducts, piers, jetties, and other structures, as also for
buildings, that no part thereof shall be of greater weight than can be
carried by a horse or other beast of burden or by one or more men, in

page_text: order to facilitate the transport of such girders across countries that are
inaccesable for other means of transport. For this purpose I construct
such girders on the lattice principle, the upper or compression part of
which is formed of comparatively short lengths of iron tubes or pipes or
their equivalents while the lower or tension part is formed of ropes or
strands of metal wire or of hoop iron. The arrangements for carrying
out this system of construction may be variously modified; thus in
girders for large spans the tubes or pipes are provided with flanges at
their ends by which they are bolted together with a plate intervening
between the two flanges, such plate being made to project above and
below the flanges, and to the lower part of which plate are attached the
vertical struts and the diagonals of the girder, while to the upper part
of the plate are attached the angle or T iron transverse connecting
pieces, also serving as supports to the roadway. For girders of smaller
span the pipes may be formed without tanges at their ends, and the lengths
are connected together by means of core pieces passing into the two
abutting ends into which they are screwed or keyed, a plate carried by
the core-piece-and-nipped between the ends of the tubes serving as
the point of attachment for the other parts of the girder as before.
The lower ends of the vertical struts of the girder are connected to
plates to which are secured the wire ropes or bundles of hoop iron
serving as the lower or tension flange of the girder, and which may bo
conveniently carried between the under side of the said plates and
other plates suspended therefrom by means of screw bolts passing
between the wire ropes or hoop iron. The piers or supports for such
girders I also construct by preference of short lengths of flanged pipes
or tubes bolted together end to end with horizontal plates intervening
between the flanges for tying together the several tubular supports
forming the pier. Suitable diagonal bars or rods are also provided
between the supports in the usual manner for bracing the structure.
I do not however limit myself to nor do I claim this mode of constructing
such piers or supports.
Having thus set forth the nature of my Invention, I will now
proceed more particularly to describe the manner of performing the same,
for which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying Drawings, which
serve to shew one of the various arrangements of which my Invention is
susceptible.
Figure 1, Sheet I., shews an elevation of a girder as applied to a bridge,

page_text: a flat plate floor at X, and a buckled plate floor at Z, while Figure 4
shews a transverse section with corrugated plate floor; Figures 5 and 6,
Sheet II., show respectively a front elevation and plan of one of the piers;
and Figures 7 to 19 shew enlarged details and modifications of various
parts. Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in each of the
Figures.
The girders A, A, are composed of wrought-iron tubes a, a, at the
upper or compression part, which tubes are of short length as shewn and
are provided with flanges a' at the ends by means of which they are
bolted together and to the intervening plates of the struts b, as shewn
more clearly in the enlarged side and front elevations of the connections
at Figures 7 and 8. Or in place of a tubular section an H, T, or trough
shaped section may be employed for the parts a, a, as indicated in
section and side view at Figures 12 and 13. At the ends of the girder
the flanged tubes a are bolted to a transverse plate c secured to two side
plates c', c', of the chair C, shewn in enlarged side elevation, sectional
plan, and transverse section respectively at Figures 9, 10, and 11. To
the front end of the chair C are attached the ends of the wire ropes d, d,
constituting the tension flange of the girder, the ends of the ropes being
for this purpose secured in tapering sockets d, d, formed on screwed
bolts d, d, which pass through a strong transverse bar c³, secured to the
side plates c', c', of the chair; or the sockets may be formed separato
from the bolts & as indicated to an enlarged scale in elevation, end view,
and plan at Figures 15, 16, and 17, the sockets being provided with eyes
as shewn, whereby they are connected to corresponding eyes on the
screwed bolts. The wire ropes d, d, are connected to the struts b, as
shewn at Figures 7 and 8, being made to pass between the under side of
the plate of the latter, and a plate 63 bolted to be so as to nip the wire
ropes between them. In place of wire ropes, bundles of hoop, bar, or
rod iron or steel may be employed as shewn in elevation and plan at
Figures 18 and 19, and the attachment of which to the struts b is shewn
in section at Figure 14. The strands are held in position by upper and
lower cast-iron distance pieces or clips d secured by bolts, of which the

page_text: upper one may, if requisite, be made to extend from strut to strut. The
plates b' of the struts to which the tubes a, a, are bolted, are extended
upwards beyond the ends of the struts and serve as points of attachment
for the transverse bearers e, e, of angle or T iron which carry the flat,
corrugated, or buckled plates f forming the roadway, as also the longi-
tudinal bearers g. The several girders A, A, are braced together by
diagonal rods h and by angle iron connecting pieces i, i, secured to the
projecting ends of the before-mentioned plates of the struts b. The
piers B, Figures 1, 5, and 6, are also constructed of short lengths of
flanged iron tubes or pipes k, k, bolted together, and to tie plates 1, 1,
interposed between the abutting flanges to which are secured the diagonal
braces m, m. n, n, is a transverse girder connecting the two vertical
parts of the pior and serving as supports to the main girders A, A.
From the above described construction of my improved girder it will bc
seen that no part thercof will be of greater dimensions than will admit of
ready transport.
Having thus described_the_nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
in no way limit myself to the precise form and arrangement of my
improved girders hercin-before described with reference to the accom-
panying Drawings, as these may obviously be variously modified
without departing from the essential feature of my Iuvention; but
what I claim is, constructing girders wherein the upper or compression
part is formed of comparatively short lengths of tubes or equivalent parts
secured together, and to intervening plates connected to the struts, while
the lower or tension part of the girder is composed of wire ropes or
strands of hoop, bar, or rod iron, steel, or other metal, substantially as
and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Nathan Maynard, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-eighth day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
HENRY NATHAN MAYNARD. (L.S.)