IMPROVE- MENTS IN CONSTRUCTING SEA AND RIVER EMBANKMENTS, WALLS, PIERS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES WHOLLY OR PARTLY IMMERSED IN WATER
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Pryor Stockman, of No. 24, Great George
*Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer, and James. Sheppard Scott, of 46,
Kensington Park Gardens, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CONSTRUCTING SEA AND RIVER EMBANKMENTS, WALLS, PIERS, AND
OTHER STRUCTURES WHOLLY OR PARTLY IMMERSED IN WATER."
Sealed the 30th August 1864, and dated the 3rd March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman
and James Sheppard Scott at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 3rd March 1864.
We, BENJAMIN PRYOR STOCKMAN, of No. 24, Great George Street, West-
minster, Civil Engineer, and JAMES SHEPPARD SCOTT, of 46, Kensington Park
Gardens, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING SEA AND RIVER EMBANKMENT WALLS, PIERS,
AND OTHER STRUCTURES WHOLLY OR PARTLY IMMERSED IN WATER," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of preparing and providing foundations
for structures to be erected in water or in marshy or wet ground, or in other
cases where coffer dams have hitherto been found requisite. According to
this Invention it is proposed to form a foundation platform of iron, stone,
timber, or other suitable material, supported upon and securely fastened down
to cylinders, piles, or other suitable supports, and made sufficiently strong and
water-tight to admit of the superstructure being erected thereon, and resist

page_text: the upward pressure of the water. A tank dam is to be attached to this
platform of which the platform forms the bottom. By this arrangement a
secure and dry chamber is obtained, within which the structure can be erected.
As each section or length of the structure is completed, the sides and ends
forming the tank dam can easily be removed, leaving the structure supported
by the foundation platform. In cases where the platform is liable to oxidation
or rapid decay, or is required to be removed, it is proposed to have "relieving"
and ground arching or concrete or stone blocks in the lower part of the
structure, which would form a sufficient foundation or support bearing on the
cylinders or piles should the platform be entirely destroyed or removed. In all
"bydraulic work" or structures in which the building may be carried on in
or under water the tank dam may of course be dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman and James Sheppard Scott in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
PRYOR STOCKMAN, of 24, Great George Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer,
and JAMES SHEPPARD SCOTT, of 46, Kensington Park Gardens, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman and James Sheppard Scott, Her
special license that we, the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman and James
Sheppard Scott; our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman and James Sheppard Scott, our
executors, administrators, or 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,
SEA AND RIVER EMBANKMENTS; WALLS, PIERS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES WHOLLY OR
PARTLY IMMERSED IN WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman and James Sheppard Scott, our_executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or

page_text: under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman and James
Sheppard Scott, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Our said Invention relates to the preparation and providing of foundations
for structures required to be erected in water or in marsby or wet ground, and
is applicable in all cases where coffer dams have hitherto been found necessary.
According to our Invention we propose to form a foundation platform of iron,.
stone, timber, or other suitable materials, supported upon and securely fastened
down to cylinders or piles or other suitable supports, and made sufficiently
strong and water-tight to admit of the superstructure being erected thereon, and
resisting the upward pressure of the water. A tank dam is to be attached to
this platform, of which the platform itself forms the water-tight bottom. By
this arrangement a secure and dry chamber is obtained within which the
structure can be erected. As each section or length of the structure is
completed, the sides and ends forming the tank dam may be removed, leaving
the structure supported by the foundation platform. In cases where the
platform might be liable to oxidation or rapid decay or required to be removed
relieving" or "ground" arching or concrete or stone blocks may be used
in the lower part of the structure, which would form a sufficient foundation or
support, bearing directly on the cylinders or piles in the event of the platform
being entirely destroyed or removed.
66
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose we shall
refer to the several Figures on the two Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corre-
sponding Figures.
Fig. 1, on Sheet 1 of our Drawings, represents a transverse vertical section.
of one form of sealed platform and tank dam constructed and combined
together according to our Invention; and Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan of
a and b represent two of a series of wrought-iron cylinders sunk
in the usual manner, and filled in with concrete, as shewn in the Drawings;
the same.

page_text: c, c, are cappings of brick or stone, upon which the sealed platform 9 rests.
In this case the sealed platform is composed of cast-iron girders g', and. arched
plates p; d represents sheet piling which is driven in from cylinder, to
cylinder. The outsides of the upper portions e, c, of the cylinders are left
standing after the process of sinking, and serve to form a part of the tank dam
of which ff, are the vertical plates. The portions drawn in red lines shown
at h, h, illustrate the position of the structure intended to be erected. In
order to give greater area for the pressure on the base of the concrete in the
cylinders, the ground, may be coned out as shown at k, k, in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 represents a part longitudinal vertical section; and Fig. 4 a corre-
sponding plan of a modified construction of sealed platform, showing also the
sunk cylinders and tank dam. In this modification the sealed platform is
composed of "groined" plates c, c, which rest with their convex surfaces
upwards upon the brick or stone cappings in the tops of the cylinders. a, a ;.
b is the sheet piling, and d,. d, are the outer portions of the upper lengths of
cylinders, which are left standing, as herein-before described, to form.a portion
of the sides and ends of the tank dam, of which e, e, are the vertical sido and
end plates; fis the intended permanent structure shown in red lines.
Fig. 5 (Sheet 2) is a transverse vertical section of another arrangement,
showing the supporting cylinders, sealed. platform, and tank dam, the sealed
platform in this case being composed of brick arches in iron frames. Fig. 6
is a plan of the same, and Fig. 7 is a part longitudinal section thereof. In
these Figures a, a, are the supporting cylinders, and b, b, brick arches in the
iron frames b', b', forming the sealed.platform; c, c, are the upper portions of
the cylinders which are left to form part of, the tank dam, of which d, d,
represents the side and end plates. The permanent structure is shewn in.red
lines at e.
Fig. 8 is.a transverse .vertical. section of another arrangement,.showing the
cylinder, supports, sealed platform, and tank dam, the sealed platform being.
here shewn as formed by a solid filling up between the cylinders and sheeting
piles. a, a, are the cylinder supports; b, b, the sheet piling; c, the concrete
filled in and forming the sealed platform; d, d, are the upper portions of the
cylinders left to form part of the tank dam; e, e, are the side and end plates
of the tank dam; f is the rubble filling in between the cylinders; 9 is the
supposed permanent structure, shown in red lines, and h, h, are arched plates
laid on the concrete filling or sealed platform to form centrings for arches at
the base of the permanent structure.
From the foregoing description, and by reference to the Drawings herein-
before described, it will be seen that the essential feature of our said Invention

page_text: consists in the means above described and illustrated of forming 'foundations
for embankments, sea or river walls, moles, breakwaters, piers and abut-
ments of bridges, lighthouses, or any other kind of structures or buildings of
brick or stonework, or of any other materials that have. to be erected in water
or on the margins or shores of lakes, canals, rivers, seas, or on their beds, that
is, wholly or parly immersed in water, so that such structures can be formed;
built, or erected in an enclosed dry temporary chamber without resorting to
the usual method of driven or sunken coffer dams and excavated foundations
within them. We make use of the various modes of forming pier or pile
supports that have hitherto been in use, such for instance as sinking cylinders,
and filling them up solid with concrete, brickwork, or other suitable filling
up, as herein-before described; or we use screw piles, iron, or driven piles;
corrugated iron piles, or a natural rocky bed, an artificial bed of rubble, or
any means suitable to form a support or bearing for the upper work, which in
detail is constructed as follows:-We construct and use a "sealed platform"
and a "tank dam," and these two combined together comprise our Invention.
The sealed platform, as will be seen, may be constructed in various ways,
according to the requirements and the means and materials at hand; for
example, it may be of cast or wrought iron in the form of girders, joists, and
plates, or of groined plates, buckled plates, or of cast or wrought iron, or both
combined, of any suitable form and arrangement sufficient to sustain the load
of the structure, and to keep out the water. Round the margin of the
"sealed platform" there are vertical sides and ends attached to it, forming
with it a "tank dam," the sides and ends are of wrought or cast iron, so
formed and arranged as to resist the pressure of the water from without, and
to enclose a convenient chamber in which to build, construct, or erect the
permanent structure. The joints in the "sealed platform " and " tank dam'
are cemented, caulked, or packed, or made water-tight in any other. way, and
fastened by bolts and nuts, rivets, or other methods of ensuring a proper
fastening. The "sealed platform" and "tank dam are lowered on to the
supports or bearings already described, and fastened to them or not, as the
case may require, or constructed thereon. The permanent structure, of
whatever form or kind it may be, is then erected with enclosed space, and
when completed the sides and ends of the "tank dam" are removed, leaving
the structure founded on the "sealed platform."
"
ני
The following are some variations in the details of the "sealed platform
and "tank dam."-The sealed platform may be made partly or wholly of
other materials than cast or wrought iron, such for instance as partly or

page_text: wholly of timber, or of slabs of stone, slate, or brick arching or groining, all
of which are set in a girder framing of cast or wrought iron or timber, or
otherwise bound together in shape and position. The "tank dam" sides and
ends may be of timber, or of timber and iron combined, or of other suitable
materials. We also form a "tank dam" by sinking the sides and ends deeply
into the bed under the water, or by attaching them to the supports or bearings
before described, in which case the "sealed platform" is made by a solid
mass of concrete, rubble, masonry, brickwork, clay, or other material, filled in
up to the level of the footings of the permanent structure to be erected, and
the upper surface of such filling-in is then left level to receive the structure,
or prepared by a paving of iron or timber, or by other means, either level or
in the form of centring, so that the structure to be erected will have its weight
transferred by means of relieving arches or groining directly on to the rigid'
portions of the supports or bearings, such as, for example, the cylinders or
piles. We sluice out the "tank dam" when necessary by means of valves or
openings. We also provide against any upward pressure due to a head of
water by loading the "sealed platform" all over, or by anchoring or fastening
it down to the supports or bearings, or by pumping the accumulating water
from under the surface of that portion of the "sealed platform" exposed to its
action, or we leave vents for the water to ooze through to prevent the static
pressure due to the head, forcing up the "sealed platform." We also use
where required sheeting piles of timber or iron, or plates of iron, either plain,
buckled, or corrugated, sunk into the bed under the water, and between the
pile or cylinder supports around the margin to prevent the bed from being
scoured by the action of the tide, and also to prevent the water from penetrating
and accumulating quickly under the sealed platform.
"
Our Invention is intended as a substitute for either of the methods of
founding a permanent structure called "tide work" and "hydraulic work,"
wherein the structure may be founded on supports or bearings, such as we have
described, but without a "tank dam," the "tide work process only allowing
the building to go on during the times the water is below the level of the work,
and the "hydraulic" process going on actually in the water, that is to say, by
the aid of diving or other submerged means. Our Invention, therefore, differs
from these processes in so far as we construct and use a "tank. dam" as
already described, forming a dry chamber, in which the permanent structure
can be erected. By preference the "tank dam" is made to extend in height
above the highest water level, so as to enable the permanent structure to proceed
at all states of the tide in the sea or tidal rivers; but we also use a tank

page_text: dam" of less height with a means of sluicing, so that a structure can only be
erected dry within it, while the water is below its top edge the time of working
per day, being determined by the height of the tank dam.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the system or mode of forming
foundations for structures required to be erected in water or in marshy or wet
ground, or which are wholly or partially immersed in or surrounded by water
by the aid of a "sealed platform" and "tank dam" constructed and combined
together substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described and illustrated by our Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Pryor Stockman, on behalf of
myself and the said James Sheppard Scott, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of September, One thousand eight.
hundred and sixty-four.
B. P. STOCKMAN. (L.S.)