IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HARBOURS, BREAKWATERS, AND FLOATING DOCKS FOR RAILWAY FERRIES OR OTHER PURPOSES."
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Evan Leigh, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HARBOURS, BREAKWATERS, AND
FLOATING DOCKS FOR RAILWAY FERRIES OR OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Evan Leigh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th December 1871.
I, EVAN LEIGH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HARBOURS, BREAKWATERS,
AND FLOATING DOCKS FOR RAILWAY FERRIES OR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:
This Invention relates to a certain method of constructing harbours,
breakwaters, and floating docks for railway ferries or other purposes, so
as to ensure still water and a safe entrance whatever be the state of the
weather or tide when the train boat comes in or goes out. This I effect
for a walled harbour by making the harbour, when practicable, of a

page_text: The stage of the floating dock is made with long balks of timber
suitably braced together and resting on water tight iron pontoons. The
inner sides and bottom are double and firmly joined together so as to
draw a sufficient depth of water. The tops of these pontoons fit in
cavities under the stage which keep them in their places. When any of
them are required to be taken out for cleaning or repair it is only
necessary to partially fill them with water and they will sink so far as to
leave the cavity, when they can be floated ashore, cleaned, and put
in their places again one by one, thus dispensing with bolts or other
fastenings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Evan Leigh in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EVAN
LEIGH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Evan Leigh, Her special license that
I, the said Evan Leigh, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Evan Leigh, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 THE CON-
STRUCTION OF HARBOURS, BREAKWATERS, AND FLOATING DOCKS FOR RAILWAY
FERRIES OR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition, amongst others, that
I, the said Evan Leigh, 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 performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within

page_text: Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Evan Leigh, 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, reference being had to the figures on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists, first, of a certain method of constructing
harbours, breakwaters, and floating docks for railway ferries, or other
purposes, so as to ensure still water and a safe entrance whatever be the
state of the weather or tide when the train boat comes in or goes out.
This I effect for a walled harbour by making the harbour, by preference,
of a partly circular form, but so that the outer or sea wall describes a
larger segment of a circle than the inner wall on the land side, as shown
in Fig. 1. The walls of this harbour I construct by preference thus,
namely, in any convenient place on the sea shore where suitable material
is abundant I make large slabs of artificial stone by an admixture of
Portland or other cement with gravel, sand, or broken stones. These
slabs I cement together so as to form a sort of stone box of huge size,
any shape or bend to suit the position required, and strengthen them
when necessary with iron rods twisted together, or twisted wire worked
in with the stone, as shewn in Fig. 2. I then fill these boxes with
concrete, only so far as will not destroy their floating power, and when
floated to the positions they are intended to occupy they are then filled
up and sunk, when each block becomes a solid mass of stone of any
weight required. One end of each stone is sometimes made concave and
the other convex so as to fit into each other, being made occasionally the
whole width of the pier and as long as practicable.
rope
When a harbour is required to be fixed temporarily, so as to be
capable of easy removal, these stone boxes must only be filled partly
with concrete and partly with water, so that when the water is pumped
out they will have sufficient buoyancy at high tide to raise them and
float them away.
Into this harbour I place a floating landing stage, seen at d, d, Fig. 1,

page_text: When the harbour is made with floating breakwaters instead of solid
walls I prefer to make the sea face of such breakwaters in a honeycomb
fashion or with shelves projecting from the sides, as in Fig. 3, and tie
the shelves together by bolts, as shown at a, a (Fig. 3), which plan not
only breaks up the waves dashing against the breakwaters but prevents
to a considerable extent the rising and falling of the harbour caused by
the swell of the waves by the water getting into the interstices of the
honeycombs, or upon the shelves, and thus weighting it down to
counteract the additional buoyancy imparted by a high wave.
Within this harbour and attached thereto, Fig. 6, I place a floating.
dock or landing stage d, d, into which the vessel fits and is held by two
tongues, as shown on a larger scale in Fig. 4. These tongues are closed
so as to embrace the stern of the vessel when in the harbour either by
the action of the vessel in entering or otherwise. To cause the vessel to
close them when entering I place two tongues a, a, Fig. 4, within the
harbour and when the train or other boat comes in the tongues a, a, are
thrust back by coming in contact with the bows of the boat and they
enter into pockets formed in the landing stage to receive them. Attached
to the arms a, a, are two strong chain pullies b, b, and a connexion is
formed between the outer and inner tongues by the rods and chains c, c,
as shown, so that when the inner tongues are thrust back they pull the
outer tongues or dock gates a¹, a¹, together and enclose the boat, as
shown. These gates are then secured by an ordinary bolt or snap latch
and the vessel is further secured into the harbour by a bolt from each
side of the boat being thrust into a pocket on each side of the dock, by
screws, snap latch, or otherwise, so as to attach it firmly to the dock
or landing stage d, d, whilst the trains move off or come on board. The
light dock gates a¹, a¹, Fig. 4, are acted upon by weights and chains e, e,
conveniently placed, which have a sufficient pull just to keep them open
when there is no boat in the floating dock.
The stage of the floating dock and harbour I make by preference of
long balks of timber suitably braced together, as shewn in section at b, b,
Fig. 3, and resting on watertight iron pontoons g, g. The inner sides
and bottom may be made double, or as shown in Fig. 3, but however
constructed it must be made of a proper weight combined with the upper
stage to draw a sufficient depth of water. The tops of these pontoons
fit into cavities m under the stage which keep them in their places.
When any of them are taken out for cleaning or repair, it is only

page_text: necessary to partially fill them with water and they will sink down so far
as to leave the cavity when they can be floated ashore, cleaned, and put
in their places again one by one, thus dispensing with bolts or other
fastenings.
The shape of the harbour may be made to suit any situation
where required, but I prefer to make it of a circular form, as shown in
Fig. 6, and to keep it in its place either by pillars b, b, or by radius bars,
as shown at o, o, Fig. 5. These radius arms may be utilized as bridges
in some situations, such as the harbour of Dover, in which they are
shown with one end attached to the Admiralty pier by strong hinges
at c, c, and the other end to the floating dock or landing stage at d, d. In
this case the bridges are of sufficient height to allow the steam vessels
to come under them, and the floating double dock or landing stage may
be connected with the shore by a second bridge f, f, sufficiently wide to
allow of cabs, carts, and foot passengers to come upon the landing stage
and thus utilize it for the public in discharging cargo from ordinary boats
moored alongside, as shewn at h, h. It may also be made into an
agreeable public promenade in connexion with the Admiralty Pier, and
have suitable sheds and refreshment rooms.
When the floating harbours are made without pillars and kept in their
places by radius bars or bridges, as shown in Fig. 5, lighthouses are
placed on the landing stage, as seen at a, about the entrance, but when
the floating harbours are kept in position by fixed pillars b, b, b, b, as
shown in Fig. 6, one or more of these pillars may be made into a light-
house or the latter may be fixed to the floating harbours. The fixed
pillars are in all cases to be of sufficient size and weight to give stability
to the floating harbours so as to allow them to move up and down with
the tide. The pillars have by preference iron sleeves that fit easily to
them so as to slide freely up and down. These sleeves have flanges cast
or attached to them to which the strong wood framing that forms the a
segments of the harbour is firmly secured, thus guarding against
expansion or contraction by the longitudinal layers of the timber
framing.
In order to enter circular harbours more securely I place a longitudinal
projection in front at the entrance of the harbour, seen at c, c, Fig. 6. 3
This longitudinal projection is attached by preference to the ring or
segments of the harbour at b, where those segments take into the sleeve
on the pillar b¹ at a sufficient height above and depth below to allow the

page_text: vessel to pass through the opening on either side, right or left, as the
state of the wind may render it desirable. Or instead of attaching
the longitudinal projection c, c, to the harbour it may be a separate
construction altogether.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
I desire it to be understood that I claim, the improvements in the
construction of harbours, breakwaters, and floating docks for railway
ferries or other purposes, as herein described and illustrated on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Evan Leigh, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
before-named Evan Leigh, in the
presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
EVAN LEIGH. (L.S.)