IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE AND OTHER FOUNDATIONS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Bridges Heathorn, of 14, Saint James's
Square, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF SUBMARINE AND OTHER FOUNDATIONS."
Sealed the 24th January 1865, and dated the 26th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Bridges Heathorn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th July 1864.
I, THOMAS BRIDGES HEATHORN, of 14, Saint James's Square, London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE AND OTHER FOUNDATIONS," to be as follows, and
consists in procuring foundations for superstructures in- deep water under the
circumstances of a level, shelving, or sloping bottom of a varying density,
possibly, covered with mud, sand, or shingle to a great depth.
Fig. 1 on the accompanying Drawing represents section of portion of a
caisson (in floatation) of an annular construction, the polygonal outline
varying according to the formation of the superstructure; and Fig. 2 is a
section of the caisson fixed and ready to receive superstructure.
The portion of caisson shewn by Fig. 1 is floated out to sea exactly over the
spot upon which the building is to be erected, and there anchored. Concrete
is then placed in the caisson so as to cause it to sink equally, and as soon as
the said portion of caisson is sufficiently deep in the water an additional height
is added, and concrete placed therein to sink it deeper in the water; this
operation continues until a firm foundation is obtained by the weight of the

page_text: caisson, with its interior filling of concrete, sinking through the mud or other
soft ground to the hard ground beneath. The interior is then filled up with
stones or concrete or stones and concrete, upon which and the concrete the
superstructure is erected. Should the hard ground be of a shelving or sloping
bottom the caisson will only bear upon the highest side of same; and to
preserve the perpendicular of the said caisson, immediately it touches the hard
ground, stones are placed in the interior of the caisson, which will naturally
settle themselves in such position as to form a wall underneath that portion of
the caisson which does not touch the hard ground, thereby forming a foundation
upon which the caisson may rest, as shewn in Fig. 2.
This mode of obtaining foundations in deep water will also apply to obtaining
same in soft or peaty ground on land.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Bridges Heathorn in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BRIDGES HEATHORN, of 14, Saint James's Square, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Bridges Heathorn, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Bridges Heathorn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas. Bridges Heathorn, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE
AND OTHER FOUNDATIONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Bridges Heathorn, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Bridges Heathorn, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of sub-
marine and other foundations under the circumstances of a level, shelving, or
sloping bottom of a varying density, possibly covered with mud, sand, or
shingle to a great depth.
Fig. 1 on the accompanying Drawing represents section of portion of a
caisson (in floatation) of an annular construction, the polygonal outline
varying according to the formation of the superstructure; Fig. 2 is a
section of a caisson fixed and ready to receive superstructure; Fig. 3 is an
elevation of a fort with this substructure, and erected in deep water upon a
hard shelving bottom; Figs. 4 and 5 are sections of this superstructure for a
muddy bottom with no rock or hard bottom underneath; and Fig. 6 is an
elevation of a caisson which may be used for a shelving or sloping bottom in
place of that shewn by Figs. 2 and 3.
The mode of fixing these substructures is as follows:-The portion of
caisson shewn by Fig. 1 is floated out to sea exactly over the spot upon which
the building is to be erected, and there anchored. Concrete is then placed in
the caisson so as to cause it to sink equally, and as soon as the said portion of
caisson is sufficiently deep in the water an additional height is added and con-
crete placed therein to sink it deeper in the water; this operation continues
until a firm foundation is obtained by the weight of the caisson with its interior
filling of concrete sinking through the mud or other soft ground to the hard
ground beneath. The interior is then filled up with stones or concrete, or
stones and concrete, upon which and the concrete the superstructure is erected.
Should the hard ground be of a shelving or sloping bottom, the caisson will
only bear upon the highest side of same, and to preserve the perpendicular of
the said caisson, immediately it touches the hard ground, stones are placed in
the interior of the caisson, which will naturally settle in such position as to
form a wall underneath that portion of the caisson which does not touch the
hard ground, thereby forming a foundation upon which the caisson may rest,
as shewn by Figs. 2 and 3. The caisson may, however, be made to bear
equally upon the shelving or sloping bottom and still retain its perpendicular,
as shewn by Fig. 6. On a muddy bottom with no rock or hard substance
underneath a caisson similar to Figs. 4 or 5 would be used, which would, on
being sunk as before described, force the mud or sand in the conical space
until it arrives at the apex, when the soft soil can be displaced no more, but is

page_text: compressed and densified in the cone; the filling in continues, and a firm
unyielding foundation is obtained.
This mode of obtaining foundations in water with a muddy bottom with no
rock or hard substance underneath will also apply to obtaining same in soft
or peaty ground on land, with only a difference in the plan of construction,
viz., the caisson being built up in a trench of a certain depth, which would be
regulated according to the density of the soil, the mode of sinking it being the
same as before mentioned.
1. Having thus fully described the particulars and nature of my said Invention,
it must be understood that I do not confine myself to or claim any particular
form of caisson, nor to the angle of the conical space, nor to the material of
which the caisson may be made; but what I do claim is, the construction of
submarine and other foundations, substantially in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bridges Heathorn, have here-
:
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1865.
Witness,
GEORGE WELLS.
T. B. HEATHORN. (L.s.)