IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING PIERS AND FOUNDATIONS UNDER WATER
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas William Kennard, of Duke Street,
Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING PIERS AND FOUNDATIONS
UNDER WATER."
Sealed the 18th March 1854, and dated the 29th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas William
Kennard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th September 1853.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM KENNARD, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING PIERS AND FOUNDA-
TIONS UNDER WATER," to be as follows:-
I construct a pier or framing of iron having tubes or guides in a
vertical or inclined position, in which I insert the shafts of screw piles
having their screw ends projecting below the bottom of the framing.
I lower this framing down upon the spot where I wish to construct the
pier, and I then turn round the shafts of the screw piles so as to screw
them into the earth. When I consider that they have entered a
sufficient depth I slip a loose collar on to the top, and fix it by a key

page_text: or otherwise, and I then screw the pile down so as to force the framing
down, and cause it to enter the ground as far as possible. I then
secure the framing firmly to the piles, so that it is thus both supported
and held down or rooted to the ground. The framing may be open, or
it may be a close box or caisson, which may be filled with concrete or
stone or other materials. In place of screw piles, ordinary piles of iron
or wood may be driven down through the tubes or guides. The
framing and the piles may be made in separate lengths, which may be
attached as the framing is lowered in the water until its lower end
touches the bottom, while the upper end is above the surface of the
water. When the pier or foundation has been thus constructed it
may be raised or built up to the required height above the water, either
by adding additional framing, or erecting masonry, or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas William Kennard in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE
PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS WILLIAM KENNARD, of Duke Street, Adelphi, in the County, of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas William Kennard,
Her special licence that I, the said Thomas William Kennard, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas William Kennard, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING PIERS AND
FOUNDATIONS UNDER WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: the said Thomas William Kennard, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calender months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas William Kennard, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawing, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:
Figure 1, is an elevation or side view of a pier or foundation con-
structed according to my Invention; Figure 2, is an end view; and
Figure 3, is a plan of the same. The same letters refer to similar
parts in each Figure. A, is a box or caisson open at top and bottom,
and formed of iron plates bolted together. B, B, are tubes or guides
attached to or forming part of the caisson, and extending from top to
bottom of the caisson, or placed at intervals in its height. C, C, are
screw piles which may be of cast or wrought iron, and either solid or
hollow. These screw piles are capable of being turned round in their
respective tubes or guides B. The caisson A, is put together at any
convenient place, and floated by a raft or vessels or otherwise to the
required spot, or in some cases it may be constructed on a platform
close to the required spot, as may be convenient. It is then lowered
down into its place, the piles being drawn up so that their screws are
close to the bottom of the caisson. The line a, a, is supposed to
represent the level of the surface of the water, and the line b, b, that
of the bottom, while the line c, c, indicates the surface of the mud or
loose materials lying on the bottom b, b. The screw piles are now
turned round and round in the ordinary manner of sinking screw piles,
and they are thus caused to descend into the earth. Additional lengths
of pile are jointed on at the top, if required; the joints being smooth and
flush on the outside, so that they pass freely through the tubes or
guides B, B. When it is considered that the piles have entered to a

page_text: sufficient depth for the purpose, a loose collar D, shewn in Figures 4,
and 5, is slipped over the top of each pile, and secured by a pin or key,
or otherwise. The operation of screwing in the piles is now resumed.
and the collars are thus caused to press on the top of the caisson A,
which is thus forced down into the mud or earth at the bottom of the
water. The collars D. may be removed, and the piles sunk deeper, and
then the collars may be replaced, and the caisson again sunk deeper, if
thought advisable. When the caisson has been sunk to a sufficient
depth the upper ends of the piles are firmly secured to it by keys or
otherwise, and it is filled with concrete or broken stone, or other suit-
able materials. In some cases when the nature of the bottom is such
as to prevent the rapid entrance of water the water may be pumped
out, and the concrete or other materials then introduced, or brickwork
or masoury may be constructed within the caisson. The pier and
foundation is thus constructed with great facility, the caisson serving as
a guide to the piles, and the piles as a guide to the caisson. The piles
also serve to tie or root the caisson to the earth, while the weight of
the concrete or other filling material gives it stability. As the caisson
is sunk into the ground additional plates may be added to its top, and
additional lengths of pile jointed on, if required. The part of the pier
above water may be formed by carrying up the caisson to a sufficient
height, or it may consist of brickwork or masonry or other suitable
superstructure.
Ordinary piles of circular, square, or other section may be employed
in lieu of the screw piles, and the caisson may be forced down by long
levers, having for their fulcra loose collars fastened on the tops of the
piles. I, however, give the preference to the screw piles. In some
cases I employ in lieu of the caisson an open irou framing without
any concrete or other filling material, but having tubes or guides for
the piles as before. When it is not required to force this framing into
the ground, and the support is entirely derived from the piles, the piles
and their tubes or guides may be inclined, and the framing may be
made wider at the bottom than at the top. In this way a tapering pier
with its foundation may be constructed in water of considerable depth,
and the operation is much facilitated by the mode of guiding the piles:

page_text: Two or more framings or caissons may be placed side by side, and
connected to form a single pier or foundation.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not confine myself to the use of the particular materials herein-
before mentioned, as the same may be varied; and I make no claim
generally to the construction of piers and foundations under water by
means of caissons or piles; but what I claim is, the constructing piers
and foundations under water by means of a caisson or caissons, or a
framing or framings, in combination with screw piles or other piles pass-
ing through guides in the caisson or caissons, or framing or framings, as
herein-before described.
Iu witness whereof, I, the said Thomas William Kennard, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four.
Witness,
STUN BALDWIN.
THOMAS WILLIAM KENNARD. (L.s.)