AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING THE INCOMPRESSIBILITY OF LIQUIDS FOR IMPARTING THE REQUIRED STIFFNESS TO SUITABLE SUPPLE BODIES FOR ALLOWING THEM TO BE MADE USE OF AS ARMATURES FOR BUILDING TUNNELS, SUBMARINE CONSTRUCTIONS, OR FOR DIVERS OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Durand and Charles Beslay, of Paris,
France, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
APPLYING THE INCOMPRESSIBILITY OF LIQUIDS FOR IMPARTING THE REQUIRED
STIFFNESS TO SUITABLE SUPPLE BODIES FOR ALLOWING THEM TO BE MADE
USE OF AS ARMATURES FOR BUILDING TUNNELS, SUBMARINE CONSTRUCTIONS, OR
FOR DIVERS OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES."
Sealed the 22nd February 1870, and dated the 31st August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Durand and
Charles, Beslay at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 31st August 1869.
:!
We, FRANÇOIS DURAND and CHARLES BESLAY, of Paris, France, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING THE INCOMPRESSIBILITY OF LIQUIDS FOR
IMPARTING THE REQUIRED STIFFNESS TO SUITABLE SUPPLE BODIES FOR ALLOWING
THEM TO BE MADE USE OF AS ARMATURES FOR BUILDING TUNNELS. SUB
01..ח

page_text: MARINE
CONSTRUCTIONS, OR FOR DIVERS OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
The Invention consists in applying the incompressibility of water or other
suitable liquids as a means for imparting the required stiffness to bags, large
tubes, or other suitable bodies made of canvass or other suitable impervious
supple fabric or material for the purpose of keeping when required the
said bags, tubes, or other bodies properly distended and in a state of sufficient
stiffness for allowing to make use of them as armatures for building sub-
marine tunnels, hydraulic or other constructions, for forming life boats or
rafts, as a ready means for obturating holes in ships' bottoms, or for other
analogous useful purposes.
The Figs. 1 and 2 of the annexed Drawing show cross sectional views
respectively in the collapsed and in the distended state of a tube or bag A
of stout canvass or other suitable supple fabric or material impervious to
water capable of resisting the required pressure, and provided or not with
a portion A¹ of a more rigid texture intended to serve as a bottom
part for
the bag or tube, the shape of which latter, when in the distended state, is
to correspond with that of the tunnel or other submarine, hydraulic, or
other construction to be built in the interior of the bag or tube, and for
which this latter is to serve consequently as an armature. A suitable
number of small tubes b, b, b, extend from the bottom part A' to the body A
of the bag, and are connected to a main tube M, and the entire arranged
in such manner that by a force pump or other suitable means the tubes b
and main tube M may be filled with water or other suitable liquid, and by
the pressure exerted and in consequence of the incompressibility of this
latter the said tubes be distended and made to serve as so many rigid
props, stays, or pillars, for keeping the bag in the distended state and
allow of making use of this latter as an armature for erecting in the
interior of the same the submarine tunuel or other hydraulic or other
structure.
Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a submarine tunnel
established by means of one or more of these bags or tubes, or any other
shaped bodies arranged in a similar manner may be made use of as a ready
means for forming life boats or rafts, for obturating holes in ships' bottoms,
or other analogous purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Durand and Charles Beslay in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th February 1870.
TO ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FRANÇOIS
DURAND and CHARLES BESLAY, of Paris, France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said François Durand and Charles Beslay, Her special
licence that we, the said François Durand and Charles Beslay, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
François Duraud and Charles Beslay, our 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 "APPLYING THE INCOMPRESSIBILITY OF
LIQUIDS FOR IMPARTING THE REQUIRED STIFFNESS TO SUITABLE SUPPLE BODIES FOR
ALLOWING THEM TO BE MADE USE OF AS ARMATURES FOR BUILDING TUNNELS OR OTHER
SUBMARINE CONSTRUCTIONS OR FOR DIVERS OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said François Durand and
Charles Beslay, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 François Durand and Charles
Beslay, 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:-
The Invention consists in applying the incompressibility of water or
other suitable liquid as a means for imparting the required stiffness to
bags, hoses, or other suitable bodies made of waterproof canvass or other
suitable impervious supple fabric for the purpose of keeping when

page_text: required the said bags, hoses, or other suitable bodies properly distended
and in a state of sufficient stiffness for allowing to make use of them
as armatures for building submarine tunnels or other hydraulic con-
structions, for forming life boats or rafts, temporary bridges, as a ready
means for obturating holes or leaks in ships' bottoms, or for other
analogous useful purposes. It is, however, more especially for con-
structing tunnels on the bed beneath the water level of rivers, for
building the heads or piers of bridges, or other hydraulic constructions.
which require to be executed beneath the water level that our Invention
may be usefully applied, and we will consequently describe more
particularly our mode of proceeding for constructing below the water
level on the bed of a river, of a channel, or other water course, a tunnel
for crossing, and for this purpose we will refer to the annexed Drawings,
in the various Figures of which the same letters relate to corresponding
.parts.
Fig. 1 represents a cross sectional view, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal
elevation view of part of a submarine or subaqueous tunnel constructed
according to our Invention. In Fig. 2 a portion of the finished part of
the tunnel and of the impervious canvass hose or tubular water-tight
cloth made use of for this construction is represented as cut away in
order better to show in what manner the work is performed. The
Figs. 3 & 4 represent cross sectional views of the hose. In Fig. 3 this
latter is shown in the collapsed state, viz., in the manner the same is
immersed in the water, whilst Fig. 4 shows the hose in the distended
state, viz., the shape in which the hose is to be kept whilst immersed so
as to allow of building the tunnel in the interior of it. Fig. 5 shows the
mode of constructing a pier or a bridge or tunnel head by our method.
The Figs. 6 & 7 respectively represent a top and a cross sectional view
of a piece of canvass to be made into a hose, and which over its entire
length and over part of the width is woven into a series of small tubes V
in juxtaposition to each other, and all of which are in communication
with a main tube M, by means of which latter water or other suitable
liquid may be forced under suitable pressure into the tubes V, and thereby
impart the required stiffness to the piece of canvass either before or after
this latter has been made up into a hose.
The principle of our Invention consists in forming a hollow cylinder
or hose of the required diameter and length of any suitable impervious
woven fabric, such, for instance, as stout waterproof canvass, the part

page_text: A, B, C, of which is woven as plain or tweeled cloth and is to form the
bottom part of the hose, whereas the remainder A, E, G, C, is woven
into a series of small tubes V in juxtaposition to each other, as shown in
the Figs. 6 & 7. The hose is to be made of such length as to have its
two ends, when the hose is immersed on the bed of the river across
which the tunnel is to be constructed, extend sufficiently far beyond the
banks, and the diameter of the hose ought to correspond as nearly
as practically with that of the masonry to be established in the interior
of it. Supposing, for instance, a tunnel of 100 yards in length, 10 in
width, and 4 in height to be constructed, it will be required for the hose
to present a cross sectional area of about 30 yards, 10 of which intended
for forming the bottom part A, B, C, are to consist of plain or tweeled
woven and the remainder of tubularly woven canvass. The hose, the
mode of constructing which will be hereafter described, forms a long
impervious tube, which is to be laid in the collapsed state on the bed of
the river or in a trench provided for this purpose in the said bed, and the
length of the hose must be such that its two ends communicate with
the heads or piers constructed on the two banks of the river.
Two or
more chains E, E, are laid in the interior on the bottom part A, B, C,
of the hose in order to keep this latter fixed in position on the bed of the
river, and these chains remain afterwards immersed in a bed D of
concrete. A trench S, S, T, T, of sufficient depth and width having been
dredged out in the bed of the river in the part where the tunnel is to be
built, the collapsed hose, with the chains E, E, in the interior of it, is
immersed and extended in the treuch, after which the same is to be inflated
or brought into the distended state so as to form an arch or vault, in the
interior of which the workmen may then construct the tunnel. This
distending of the hose so as to impart to the arched part of it the required
stiffness for resisting the pressure of the water acting on the outside of
the hose, is executed with the utmost facility by putting the main
tube M in communication with a force pump or with a tank situated
at the required level for offering a sufficient waterhead and pressure, and
by these means either water alone or water mixed with mortar or
hydraulic cement may be forced into the series of tubes V so as to distend
the hose into an arch-like shape presenting an almost metallic rigidity,
the bottom part A, B, C, of the hose forming the chord of the
arch or vault, on which bottom part are then at once applied several
ayers D of hydraulic mortar or concrete, on the top of which are after-
wards laid down a pair of rails N for the wheels R of a truck to move on..

page_text: This truck, which serves for carrying the building materials and aid in
keeping the hose properly distended and in position is provided with an
iron frame F forming an arched top, the height of which ought to exceed
a little that of the arched part of the hose. In the same measure as the
brick work in the interior of the hose proceeds behind the truck this latter
is pushed forward by a windlass or other suitable means, the truck being
prevented from receding by anchoring on or taking hold of the chains E, E.
At the same time the windlass is made to impart a suitable revolving
motion to two rollers H, H, revolving in an inclined frame H', the
lower end of which rolls by means of wheels Gover the chains E, E,
and which frame is fixed to the front of the truck. Over the rollers
H. H, is stretched an endless cloth U, by means of which the collapsed
part of the hose is lifted up in the same measure as the truck, and the
masonry behind this latter advances.
Our method of enclosing the area, in the interior of which an hydraulic
construction is to be made, in a jacket or covering of impervious cloth or
other suitable water-tight fabric whether tubularly woven or plain, may
also be applied advantageously in the manner as will be described in
reference to Fig. 5, for erecting piers or heads of bridges or subaqueous
tunnels. For this purpose a coffer or caissoon is provided as generally
made use of for hydraulic constructions, but which, except on the top,
which is left open, is covered on all sides with an impervious, either
tubular or plain, canvass or other suitable water-tight fabric. In order
to allow the easy immersion of the thus covered caissoon an opening is
provided at the bottom of the jacket or covering and a tube or small hose
of canvass I, the length of which is to exceed the height J of the caissoon,
allows the water of entering in the interior of this latter when the free
end of the tube I is held down in the caissoon, whereas when the
said end is lifted up above the top of the caissoon any communication
between the interior of this latter and the water on the outside of it will
be intercepted. The caissoon having been immersed at the spot where
the pier or other construction is to be made, the tube I is lifted up so as
to keep its free end above the top of the caissoon, the water contained
in the interior of this latter is then pumped out and forced up into a
bag K made of any suitable impervious cloth or fabric, the weight of
which water thus remaining on the top of the caissoon causes this latter
to remain immersed and in a fixed position, and the shape of the bag
being such as not to interfere with the introduction of the workmen

page_text: and the building materials at the open top of the caissoon the building of
the pier may then take place in the interior of this latter. After the con-
struction is thus terminated the bag K is emptied and the canvass of the
jacket having been cut off round the base L1, L1, of the caissoon, this latter
in consequence of the buoyancy of its wooden frame will rise and may
then
be made use of again for another operation.
Our method of constructing the tubulated hose for building subaqueous
tunnels is as follows:-In order to facilitate the weaving and afford the
required solidity the hose is made of pieces woven separately, and which
are afterwards made into short muffs, each, for instance, of 1 yard in
length, and which are then connected together lengthwise by rivetting,
sewing, or other suitable means so as to form one continuous water-tight
hose of any suitable length, and presenting over the part A, E, G, C, of
its width a series of tubes V whereas the remainder A, B, C, is plain.
For this purpose the separate pieces are woven of about 1 yard in width
and of the required length, say, for instance, 30 yards, the two fag ends
A, B, & B, C, of a length of 5 yards each, for instance, are to be made by
plain or tweeled weaving, whereas the remainder A, E, G, C, (20 yards) is
woven into small longitudinal tubes V, which may be done by any of the
well-known methods made use of for such sort of weaving. The two fag
ends of each piece are now fixed together, for instance, by rivets b so as to
make each piece form a kind of short muff of 1 yard in length and pre-
senting a cross section of 30 yards, the tubes V extending transversally,
viz., at right angles with the length of the muff. Any required length of
hose may then be constructed by connecting together lengthwise a suitable
number of these muffs, after which a main tube M of stout impervious can-
vass and of the required diameter is fixed lengthwise in the interior of the
hose at the upper part of this latter and connected by cocks or other suitable
means with each of the small tubes V.
Our Invention is particularly applicable for all sorts of hydraulic con-
structions to be executed beneath the water level. We also intend to make
use of our tubulated waterproof cloth, either in the state of flat pieces or
made into a hose or bag, for constucting life boats or rafts, for forming
temporary bridges for military or other purposes, for obturating holes or
leaks in ships' bottoms, or for other analogous purposes, our tubulated cloth
taking up but very little space when in the collapsed state and affording
great buoyancy and an almost metallic rigidity when in the distended state

page_text: viz., when the tubular parts are by a force pump or other suitable means filled
with water under sufficient pressure.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be put in
practice," we wish to add that we do not intend to restrict or limit
ourselves to the precise details of what has been here above" described
and illustrated in the Drawings, as many variations may be made
therefrom without deviating from the main principles. of the Invention;
but 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,
...
1ly: The above described methods of constructing 'subaqueous tunnels,
piers, heads of bridges or tunnels, or other hydraulic works which require
to-be effectuated beneath the water level on the bed of rivers or other water
courses..>
i
And, 2ly. Making use for the said purposes for forming life boats, rafts,
or temporary bridges, for obturating holes or leaks in ships' bottoms, or
other analogous purposes of our tubulated impervious cloth, substantially
as described and illustrated in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Durand, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
HIGNETTE, J.
FOIS DURAND. (L.S.)