• IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF AND METHOD OF REPAIRING WOOD PAVEMENTS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Remington, of Princes Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN
•
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF AND METHOD OF REPAIRING WOOD PAVEMENTS."

page_text: The advantages of this peculiar construction of the pavement of
streets, roads, and other ways or spaces are now well known, and need
not be herein enumerated; but in time and where the traffic is heavy,
or where there are extreme variations of temperature or climate in a
very short time the wood blocks become worn or injured, and the pave-
ment loses its uniformity of surface, and then, unless it is repaired, its
destruction is rapidly accomplished.
Heretofore in repairing such a pavement and restoring the required
unifority of its surface the worn or injured blocks have had to be
removed and replaced by new ones, the cost of the restoration of the
pavement being nearly equal to that of its original construction.
My Invention is designed chiefly to utilize blocks which have become
worn, or blocks of irregular lengths, thereby furnishing a very simple
and inexpensive method of repairing or restoring these pavements, and
obviating the necessity of removing and abandoning blocks which have
been worn or injured on their upper surface, and replacing them with
new blocks. The said Invention may also be applied to the original
construction of wood pavements.
According to my Invention I combine with the wood blocks and the
flooring or foundation of the pavement cement or other substance, which
can be kept in a plastic condition during the laying of the blocks, and will
then become permanently fixed in the form and position in which it is left.
This cement or plastic material is placed upon the said planks or boards,
and while it is soft or plastic the wood blocks are embedded in it in such
a manner that the upper surfaces of the pavement will be uniform or
level. Instead of cement or similar plastic material I may use sand for
packing or embedding the blocks.
In making or repairing a pavement according to my Invention the
blocks are taken up, and if required may be sawn or trimmed to make
them level; but this is not essential. A layer or bed of the said cement
or plastic material or sand is laid upon the planks, boards, or other
foundations over the portion of the pavement to be relaid or repaired.
Then the said blocks are replaced preferably in a position the reverse of
that they originally occupied. Care must be taken that when the said
blocks are set they will present a level or uniform upper surface, and
this object is accomplished by pressing down the blocks into the plastic
inaterial until the desired uniformity of surface is obtained. The blocks

page_text: .
may be pressed down either separately by means of any suitable imple-
ment, or a roller may be passed over the surface of the said blocks.
In some instances I may use wedges or pieces of wood or other
material in combination with the cement or other plastic substance or
sand, the said wedges being placed under those blocks, which are of
uneven surface or length, to make the upper surface of the pavement
level.
When the whole or a large portion of a street pavement is to be
restored I may in some instances saw off the worn or uneven ends of the
blocks to reduce them all to one uniform depth before relaying them,
and may then replace them upon their foundation without the aforesaid
cement or other material for packing them.
filed by the said Samuel Remington in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
REMINGTON, of Princes Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Remington, Her special
licence that I, the said Samuel Remington, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Remington,
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
"AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF AND METHOD OF REPAIRING WOOD PAVE-
MENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel
Remington, my executors or administrators, by an instrument, in

page_text: writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 I, the said Samuel Remington, 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:—
My Invention relates to street pavements of that class which have a
foundation or flooring of planks or boards or other hard or solid material,
such as stone, concrete, or the like, whereon are placed wood blocks or
pieces fitted and packed together, and presenting a level or uniform upper
surface to the traffic.
The advantages of this peculiar construction of the pavement of
streets, roads, and other ways or spaces are now well known, and need
not be herein enumerated; but in time and where the traffic is heavy,
or where there are extreme variations of temperature or climate, in a
very short time the wood blocks become worn or injured, and the pave-
ment loses its uniformity of surface, and then unless it is at once
repaired its destruction is rapidly accomplished.
Heretofore in repairing such a pavement and restoring the required
uniformity of its surface the worn or injured blocks have been removed,
and as no method of fitting them for further use was known they had to
be replaced by new ones, the cost of the restoration of the pavement a
being nearly equal to that of its original construction; and as it has
always heretofore been considered necessary that the blocks should be
of uniform length such blocks or pieces as were not exactly of the
`required dimensions but which were otherwise suitable have been
rejected.
My Invention is designed chiefly to utilize blocks which have become
worn, and other blocks of irregular length, that is to say, blocks of a
length or depth not corresponding with the required distance between
the top of the foundation and the surface of the pavement, thereby fur.
nishing a very simple and inexpensive method of repairing or restoring
-these pavements, and obyiating the necessity of removing and abandoning

page_text: blocks which have been worn or injured on their upper surface, and
replacing them with new blocks. Moreover by this Invention the waste
of the odd pieces formed in the cutting of timber for this purpose will
be entirely prevented, as these odd or irregular picces will be utilized,
and therefore the said Invention will be very advantageous in the original
construction of wood pavements.
According to my Invention I combine with the wood blocks and the
flooring or foundation of the pavement an intermediate thickness or bed
of cement or other substance, which can be kept in a plastic condition
during the laying of the blocks, and will afterwards become hard and
permanently and solidly fixed under the said blocks, that is to say,
this
cement or plastic material is placed upon the said foundation or flooring,
and while it is soft or plastic the wood blocks are imbedded in it in such
a manner that the upper surface of the pavement will be uniform or
level.
In repairing a pavement according to my Invention the old or worn
blocks are taken up. A layer or bed of the said cement or plastic
material of the proper depth or thickness is laid upon the planks, boards,
or other foundation over the portion of pavement to be relaid or repaired.
Then the said blocks are imbedded in this plastic layer or bed preferably
in a position the reverse of that they originally occupied, that is to say,
with their original upper surface placed downward. Care must be taken
that when the said blocks are set in the plastic bed they will present a
level or uniform upper surface; this object is accomplished by pressing
down the blocks into the plastic material until the desired uniformity of
surface is obtained. The blocks may be pressed down either separately
by means of any suitable implement, or a roller may be passed over the
surface of the said blocks. Then the plastic bed is allowed to dry and
set, and in a very short time the pavement will be fit to receive the
traffic.
In some instances, instead of merely removing and replacing those
portions of the pavement which are badly worn or injured, it may be
necessary or desirable to take up the whole of the blocks throughout an
entire street or other large section or area of the pavement. Some of
these blocks will be entirely unworn or uninjured, and will retain their
original depth, while others will be very much worn and injured.. In
this case I cover the entire surface of the foundation of the pavement

page_text: with a bed or layer of the plastic material, and replace the said blocks
thereon, and by properly pressing them and imbedding them in the said
plastic material I restore the surface of the pavement to its original
condition.
To facilitate the laying of a pavement according to my Invention I in
some instances employ a frame or box in which I combine a number of
the said blocks, and thus form the paving materials into large pieces or
sections before laying them, instead of putting the blocks down separately..
The said frames may be constructed of wood or metal, and of any con-
venient and suitable dimensions, and are provided with handles whereby
they can be conveniently lifted and carried, and the said frames should
be made in two or more parts secured together by pins or bolts or by
other means which will permit the ready-connection and disconnection
of the parts. The depth of the said frames should be equal to the height
of the paving blocks. In filling a frame I place it upon a flat slab,
plate, or other level surface, and place the blocks in the said frame
preferably with the worn or imperfect ends upward, and their other ends
resting upon the said slab or plate; I then pour in the cement or plastic
material which fills the spaces between the said blocks; then I take a
scraper and pass the same over the blocks, thereby removing the excess
of plastic material from the fame, and making the upper surface of the
materials therein smooth and level. These materials thus packed in the
frame are then allowed to dry or set, and when sufficiently hard
the frame is lifted and turned over so that the unworn or good ends of the
blocks are upward; the frame is then placed over the spot where the
section of pavement thus formed is to be laid; the frame is opened, and
the said section of pavement is deposited upon the plastic or other bed
prepared for it; then another section prepared in like manner in a
similar frame is laid, and so on until the pavement is completed. By
this method of laying the pavement the work will be very conveniently
and expeditiously performed, and labor and material will be economised.
Instead of cement or other plastic material I may use sand for
imbedding and supporting the blocks, and in some instances I may use
wedges or pieces of wood or other material with the cement or other
plastic substance or sand, the said wedges being placed under those
blocks which are deficient in length to make the upper surface of the
pavement level.

page_text: When the whole or a large portion of a street pavement is to be
restored I in some instances saw off the worn or injured ends of the
blocks to reduce them all to one uniform depth before relaying them,
and I cover the entire surface of the foundation with a uniform bed or
layer of plastic material or sand of the proper depth or thickness to
support the blocks at the original height or, level of the pavement.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. In the construction and restoration of wood pavements the
utilzation of worn, injured, or irregular blocks by placing plastic or
other suitable material upon the foundation or flooring of the pavement,
and imbedding or fixing the said blocks therein, as above set forth.
Second. In the construction or repairing of a pavement the formation
of portions or sections of the same, and the laying of these sections upon
the foundation by means of a frame or box, as hercin set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel -Remington, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
W. ROB. LAKE.
SAMUEL REMINGTON. (L.S.)