IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF COFFERDAMS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Milroy, of the City of Edinburgh, North
Britain, and James William Butler, of Willesden, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF COFFERDAMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Milroy and
James William Butler at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 22nd March 1872.
We, JOHN MILROY, of the City of Edinburgh, North Britain, and
JAMES WILLIAM BUTLER, of Willesden, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COFFERDAMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in constructing or building cofferdams of
hollow columns of ordinary brick or stone, and hydraulic or other suitable
cement, disposed in the form of a hollow column of a circular or other
configuration in sectional plan.

page_text: A number of these hollow columns are constructed side by side, and
the joints between the said columns are made good either by driving a
wooden pile between each two columns, such pile entering longitudinal
grooves made for that purpose in the brick or stone work; or if pre-
ferred, each column may be built with a longitudinal groove on one side
and a tongue or rib on the opposite side, the latter fitting the groove
of the next column; or one column may be built with two grooves,
and the next one with two tongues, or ribs on the columns may be
built plain and the joint made water-tight by means of waling and
poling boards, and clay puddle in the spandril when such space
exists.
The columns may be sunk in the usual manner, and may be built
either in situ after the method adopted for ordinary brick or stone
work, or may be composed of rings or sections of the column built on
frames, and conveyed to the place where they are to be used. These
rings or sections are secured together by internal continuous fishes com-
posed of wood or metal extending from top to bottom, or nearly so, of
the column, two or more external metal fish plates being bolted over
each joint, and secured to the continuous fishes inside.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Milroy and James William Butler in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
MILROY, of the City of Edinburgh, N. B., and JAMES WILLIAM BUTLER,
of Willesden, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
35th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said John Milroy and James William
Butler, Her special license that we, the said John Milroy and James
William Butler, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said John Milroy and James William Butler, our
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,

page_text: 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 COFFERDAMS," upon the condition (amongst:
others) that we, the said John Milroy and James William Butler, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said John Milroy and James William
Butler, 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, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
Our said Invention consists in constructing or building coffer-
dams of hollow columns of ordinary brick or stone, and hydraulic or
other suitable cement, disposed in the form of a hollow column of a
circular or other configuration in sectional plan.
:
;
A number of these hollow columns are constructed side by side, and
the joints between the said columns are made good either by driving a
wooden pile between each two columns, such pile entering longitudinal
grooves made for that purpose in the brick or stone work; or if pre- -
ferred, each column may be built with a longitudinal groove on one side,
and a tongue or rib on the opposite side, the latter fitting the groove
of the next column; or one column may be built with two grooves,
and the next one with two tongues or ribs, or the columns may be
built plain, and the joint made water-tight by means of waling and
poling boards, and clay puddle in the spandril when such space
exists.
The columns may be sunk in the usual manner, and may be built
either in situ after the method adopted for ordinary brick or stone work,
or may be composed of rings or sections of the column built on framės,

page_text: and conveyed to the place where they are to be used. These rings or
sections are secured together by internal continuous fishes composed of
wood or metal extending from top to bottom or nearly so of the column,
two or more external metal fish plates being bolted over each joint, and
secured to the continuous fishes inside if found requisite.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we 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 both the
Figures.
Figure 1 of our Drawings represents a vertical transverse section of a
portion of a cofferdam constructed according to our said Invention ;
and Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same.
A, A, are a number of hollow columns forming the cofferdam con-
structed in juxtaposition side by side of ordinary brick or stone, and
hydraulic or other suitable cement. These columns, although here
represented as hollow cylinders, may be of any other hollow section in
plan. Each column may be built up as in ordinary well sinking, and
be sunk in the usual manner. In our Drawings we have represented
the columns as composed of several sections a, each section being built
separately either in situ or elsewhere, and then lowered into its place by
any well-known arrangement of travelling crane mounted on supports,
of which the lower ends are shewn at B, B, running along the
rails b, b.
To facilitate the sinking of the columns however we propose in some
cases to apply an annular metal shoe C to the bottom of the column.
D, D, are wooden piles which are driven between the several columns in
each row, in grooves or channels formed for that purpose, down each side
of the column for the purpose of making good the joints. In addition
to these dowel piles, clay puddle may be worked into the spandrills
between the columns.
When a column is composed of several rings or sections they are
secured together by internal and external continuous fishes of wood or
metal c, c', held together by bolts and nuts, as shown at d, d.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used

page_text: or carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion that 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,―
First. The construction of cofferdams of hollow columns of ordinary
brick or stone, and hydraulic or other suitable cement, substantially as
herein-before described.
Second. The application and use of internal and external con-
tinuous fishes and bolts for holding together the various sections of the
columns of a cofferdam when constructed of brick or stone, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James William Butler, on behalf
of myself and of the said John Milroy, have to this our Specifi-
cation set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.