AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING SAND BANKS AT THE MOUTHS OF HARBOURS AND OTHER PLACES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
" AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING SAND BANKS AT THE
MOUTHS OF HARBOURS AND OTHER PLACES."-A communication from
abroad by Charles Bergeron, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
abroad by Charles Bergeron, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th April 1873.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING SAND BANKS
AT THE MOUTHS OF HARBOURS AND OTHER PLACES," a communication to me
from abroad by Charles Bergeron, of Paris, in the Republic of France,
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in employing one or more pipes of metal,
earthenware, cement, masonry or other suitable material pierced with

page_text: holes which can be burried at more or less depth in or deposited on a
sand bank which it is proposed to remove. The pipes are filled and kept
supplied with water under considerable pressure either by means of force
pumps or by gravitation from a reservoir raised considerably above the
level of the sea. This water rushing through the orifices in the pipe
with force and rapidity will lift up or disturb and loosen the sand in or
on which the tubes are laid, such sand being carried away either by a
current from sluices or by that of the outgoing tide. In lieu of water
air may be employed.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said John
Henry Johnson, in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 10th October
1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my 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
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING SAND BANKS AT THE
MOUTHS OF HARBOURS AND OTHER PLACES," a communication to me from
abroad by Charles Bergeron, of Paris, in the Republic of France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors or administrators, 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

page_text: be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office on
or before the Fourteenth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say :-
The said Invention consists in employing one or more pipes of metal,
earthenware, cement, masonry, or other suitable material pierced with
holes which can be buried at more or less depth in or deposited on a sand
bank which it is proposed to remove. The pipes are filled and kept
supplied with water under pressure either by means of force pumps or
by gravitation from a reservoir raised above the level of the sea. This
water rushing through the orifices in the pipe with force and rapidity
will lift up or disturb and loosen the sand in or on which the tubes are
laid, such sand being carried away either by a current from sluices or by
that of the outgoing tide.
In lieu of water air may be employed.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a longitudinal
elevation of one arrangement for removing sand banks according to
this Invention; Figure 2 is a corresponding transverse section of the
same, and Figure 3 is a plan corresponding to Figure 1.
A, A, A, represent a series of three perforated metal pipes, which pipes
may however be laid singly if preferred. These perforated pipes are hero
supposed to be laid or deposited upon the surface of the sand bank to be
removed, but they may if desired be buried below the surface of the
sand. B is a supply pipe leading to a reservoir or cistern O, of any
kind situate at a sufficient elevation to give the head pressure required
to enable the numerous jets which issue from the perforations in the
pipes to have sufficient force to loosen and disturb the sand, which is then

page_text: removed by the natural current, or by flushing by the aid of sluices, or
by the receding of the tidal water. The supply reservoir may be so con-
structed as to collect and retain the water from the surface land
drainage, or it may be made to receive the tidal water when flowing in
and to retain the same, as is well understood during the outflow of the
tide for the subsequent supply of the perforated pipes as before described.
The line a, b, in Figure 2 represents the level of the sand bank before
the removal of the sand has been commenced, the perforated pipes being
laid upon the surface and the line a, c, d, b, represents the trench or
channel formed in the sand after the action of the issuing jets from the
perforated pipes. Provision should be made in the construction and
arrangement of these pipes to permit of their sinking as the sand is
removed, for which purpose the supply pipe B may be made telescopic,
as shewn at e, or the pipes may be formed with hinged or flexible joints
so as to adjust themselves readily to the gradually deepening bed, all
which will be obvious to the practical engineer.
In Figures 1 and 3 I have shewn a channel D forming the supposed
entrance to a harbour and bounded on each side by two jetties, piers,
or sea walls E, E, the sand bank or bar at the entrance to the channel
and which it is desired to remove being shown by the boundary line f, g,
f, g, h, of the main channel F, F. The line i, k, in Figures 1 and 2,
shows the level at high water.
If desired air may be forced through the perforated pipes in lieu of
water, but it is preferred to employ water, whether it be obtained from
an elevated reservoir, or be forced into the perforated pipes, by pumps,
or other water forcing apparatus.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The system or mode of removing sand banks from the mouths
of harbours or other like places by the application of numerous jets of
water or air which are so caused to act upon the sand as to loosen or
disturb the same and permit of its being carried away by the current or
the tidal flow substantially in the manner herein-before described.

page_text: Second. The application and use to and in the removal of sand banks
of perforated pipes deposited upon or sunk in such banks and supplied
with water or air under pressure substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of October
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)