IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COLUMNS, PIERS, LIGHTHOUSES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's. Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COLUMNS, PIERS, LIGHTHOUSES,
AND OTHER BUILDINGS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN. -A
communication from abroad by Charles Edwin Hill, of the City,
T
P
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th July 1874.
12
"
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of No. 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COLUMNS, PLERS,
LIGHTHOUSES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,'
a communication to me from abroad by Charles Edwin Hill, of the
City, County, and State of New York, United States of America, to be
as follows: -
:
The first part of this Invention consists of a column or pillar composed

page_text: 5
of metal and stone or baked ware or similar substance, the materials
being so disposed that those portions most liable to destruction and
decay are concealed within and protected by those portions not subject
to such deterioration.
The second portion of this Invention relates to the mode of driving the
metallic bars forming part of such columns into soft foundation..
And the third portion of the Invention relates to structures consisting
in whole or in part of such columns.
In carrying out the first part of this Invention the column or pillar is
composed of an external shaft of stone, baked ware, or similar material
not subject to corrosion by the elements, and one or more internal tie
rods or bars extending through the shaft, and provided with nuts, keys,
or sleeves between which the shaft is clamped, the whole forming a self-
contained structure dependent solely for its integrity upon the rod or
rods or bars.
The shaft may be a monolinth, but it is preferred to form it of a series
of blocks, each perforated at the point where the rod or bar is to pass,
with an opening so much larger than the rod as to admit an intervening
body of packing.
In erecting the column the rod or bar is driven into or anchored to
the foundation, and a nut, sleeve, or key is secured to the rod or bar
with its upper edge or face level with the foundation. The first block
is then lowered to its place, the opening is half filled with packing, and
after the upper surface of the block is coated with cement another block
is applied, and so on, dowels being inserted if necessary, and the opening
being half filled with packing after the addition of each block, so that the
joints in the packing will "break joint" with those between the stones,
and effectually prevent the access of water to and the corrosion of the rod.
When the shaft has been built to the requisite height a washer is
placed upon the surface of the upper stone, and a nut or other suitable
device applied to the threaded end of the rod so as to clamp the shaft to
the latter between the nut and the key sleeve or nut.
The securing of the rod or rods or bars to the foundation in no way
affects the integrity of the column, which as a structure is self contained
and as stable and complete when detached from the foundation as when
-secured thereto, and combines within itself the tensile strength of the

page_text: metal bar or bars, and the rigidity and resistance to crushing strains of
the shaft.
It will be apparent that other devices may be substituted for those
described for clamping the shaft to the bar, and that the latter may be
secured or anchored to the foundation in any suitable manner, and that
blocks of any suitable section, such for example as an hexagonal or flat
elliptical form may be employed.
The improved mode of driving the rod. or bar into a soft foundation
forms the second part of this Invention, and consists in applying a sleeve:
to the rod or bar at a suitable distance from its sharpened lower end, and
employing a hammer consisting of a perforated block sliding on and
guided by the rod or bar, and striking the sleeve, thereby imparting the
blow so near the point where the bar penetrates the foundation that
there can be little or no lateral vibration, the full force of the blow being
thus obtained.
It will be apparent that by the use of a hammer thus sliding on the
bar the latter may be driven into the foundation at any suitable angle.
The sleeve may consist of a split hub clamped to the rod by set screws,
and adjustable so as to be elevated as the rod descends, and it may be
employed as a rest for the lowermost block in lieu of the key herein-
before mentioned.
Pillars or columns of the character described may be combined in the
erection of structures which constitute the third part of the Invention..
In the erection of wharves, piers, lighthouses, breakwaters, and the
like one, two, or more series of pillars may be erected at suitable
intervals, the pillars being reduced in size gradually or by steps from
the bottom, and the intervening space filled to a suitable depth with
concrete or rubble, which imparts stability to the structure.
The superstructure may rest directly upon the upper ends of the
pillars as the sole support, or the latter may be the medium for sup-
porting trusses, beams, or girders of any suitable construction which
constitute intermediate bearings for the superstructure. According to
one arrangement the columns are stepped in order to provide direct.
bearings for the feet of iron brackets which cap the columns and support
the superstructure.
Metal spiders may be applied to the rod or röds or bars during the
erecting of the pillars, and be embedded in, the shaft, excepting such-

page_text: projecting portions as may serve as means of connection for bolts, thus
insuring a direct strain upon the rods or bars instead of upon the outer
section of the column..
:
In large structures, such as piers for example, having bases mucli.
larger than the caps, some of the rods or bars may extend part of the
distance only through the shaft.
'
When the shafts are hexagonal in form a number may be combined
to form columns of larger diameter, walls, piers, or other structures, the
rods or bars of the group being bound to each other by tie rods or other-
wise so as to insure the integrity of the structure as a whole.
It is obvious that the columns may be applied as described and in
various other ways to the erection of wharvés, bridges, piers, lighthouses,
warehouses, viaducts, monuments, and numerous other structures having
dry or wet foundations.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st January 1875.
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 Eighth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the 38th
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, administrators, and assigns,
or such others. as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and 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 COLUMNS, PIERS, LIGHTHOUSES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by
•

page_text: Charles Edwin Hill, of the City, County, and State of New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said.
John Henry, Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 six calendar, months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
'
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 first part of the said Invention consists of a column or pillar
composed of metal and stone or baked ware or similar substance, the
materials being so disposed that those portions most liable to destruction.
and decay are concealed within and protected by those portions not
subject to such deterioration.
The second portion of the said Invention relates to the mode of driving
the metallic bars forming part of such columns into soft foundations.
And the third portion of the said Invention relates to structures con-
sisting in whole or in part of such columns.
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..
The first part of the said Invention is illustrated in Figures 1 to 6, and
it consists of a pillar H composed of an external shaft of stone, baked
ware, or similar material not subject to corrosion by the elements, and
one or more internal tie rods B extending through the shaft, and provided
with nuts, keys, or sleeves a, b, between which the shaft is clamped, the
whole forming a self-contained structure dependent solely for its integrity
upon the rod or rods.
Although the shaft may be à monolinth it is preferred to form it of a
series of blocks A, each perforated at the point where the rod is to pass

page_text: with an opening o so much larger than the rod as to admit an inter-
vening body of packing t.
In erecting the column the rod B is driven into or anchored to the
foundation, and a nut, sleeve, or key 6 is secured to the rod with its
upper edge or face level with the foundation. The first block A is then
lowered to its place, the opening o is half filled with packing, and after
the upper surface of the block is coated with cement another block is
applied, and so on in succession, dowels d being inserted if necessary,
and the opening o being half filled with packing after the addition of
each block, so that the joints x in the packing will "break joint" with
those between the stones, and effectually prevent the access of water to
and the corrosion of the rod.
When the shaft has been built to the requisite height a washer ƒ is
placed upon the surface of the upper stone, and a nut a or other suitable
device applied to the threaded end of the rod so as to clamp the. shaft to
the latter between the nut and the key, sleeve, or nut b.
The securing of the rod or rods B to the foundation in no way affects
the integrity of the column, which as a structure is self-contained and
as stable and complete when detached from the foundation as when
secured thereto, and combines within itself the tensile strength of the
metal bar or bars, and the rigidity and resistance to crushing strains of
the shaft.
It is obvious that other devices may be substituted for those described
for clamping the shaft to the bar, and that the latter may be secured or
anchored to the foundation in any suitable manner; also that blocks of
any suitable section, such for example as are illustrated in Figures 4, 5,
and 6, may be employed. Figures 4 and 5 shew two openings o for the
reception of two rods.
The improved mode of driving the rod into a soft foundation forms
the second part of this Invention, and consists in applying to the rod or
bar at a suitable distance from its sharpened lower end a sleeve I
(Figure 7), and employing a hammer consisting of a perforated block X
sliding on and guided by the rod, and striking the sleeve, thereby
imparting the blow so near the point where the bar penetrates the
foundation that there can be little or no lateral vibration, the full force
of the blow being thus obtained...

page_text: It will be apparent that by the use of a hammer thus sliding on the
bar the latter may be driven into the foundation at any suitable angle.
The sleeve I may consist of a split hub clamped to the rod by set
screws i, i, and adjustable so as to be elevated as the rod descends, and
it may be employed as a rest for the. lowermost block in lieu of the key b
illustrated in Figure 1. .
Pillars or columns of the character described may be combined in the
erection of structures which constitute the third part of the Invention.
In the erection of wharves, piers, lighthouses, breakwaters, and the
like one, two, or more series of pillars H, H, (Figure 8) may be erected
at suitable intervals, the pillars being reduced in size gradually or by
steps from the bottom, and the intervening space. filled to a suitable depth
with concrete or rubble Y, which imparts stability to the structure.
The superstructure may rest directly upon the upper ends of the
pillars as the sole support, or the latter may be the medium for supporting
trusses, beams, or girders T of any suitable construction, which consti-
tute intermediate bearings for the superstructure, as shewn in Figure 8.
In Figure 9 the columns are stepped in order to provide direct bearings
for the feet of iron brackets T, which cap the columns and support the
superstructure.
Metal spiders may be applied to the rod or rods during the erecting of
the pillars, and be imbedded in the shaft, excepting such projecting
portions as may serve as means of connection for bolts and the like, thus
insuring a direct strain upon the bars B instead of upon the outer section
of the column.
In large structures, such as piers for example, having bases much
larger than the caps, some of the rods may extend part of the distance
only through the shaft, as shown at B¹ in Figure 10.
: When the shafts are hexagonal in form a number may be combined to
form columns of larger diameter; walls, piers, or other structures, as
shown in Figure 11, the rods B of the group being bound to each other
by tie rods or otherwise so as to insure the integrity of the structure as
a whole.
It is obvious that the columns may be applied as described and in
various other ways to the erection of wharves, bridges, piors, lighthouses,
beacons, breakwaters, warehouses, viaducts, monuments, and numerous
other structures having dry or wet foundations.