IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREAKWATERS, SEA WALLS, PIERS, JETTIES, AND OTHER BIMILAR CONSTRUCTIONS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Jackson and Thomas
Gardner Wilson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 8th December 1870.
We, WILLIAM JACKSON, of the City of Norwich, in the County of
Norfolk, Engineer, and THOMAS GARDNER WILSON, of Compton Road,
Islington, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREAKWATERS,
SEA WALLS, PIERS, JETTIES, AND OTHER BIMILAR CONSTRUCTIONS," to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in improvements in the construction of break-
waters, sea walls, piers, jetties, and entrances to harbours.
Our improvements consist chiefly in forming the breakwater or other
construction of frames of open ironwork cast in lengths, and having a
plate or hoarding at the bottom, and in bolting to the inner side of these
frames a number of curved or flat perforated plates, as herein-after
described.
To construct a breakwater or sea wall according to our Invention,
we fix upon suitable piles a number of frames of open cast iron, the

page_text: length, height, and thickness of the frames varying according to the
position of the construction and the strength required. The ends of
the frames are cast so that they may be properly fitted and bolted firmly
together, and so as to enable the breakwater or sea wall to be con-
structed of the desired form; the bottom plates of these iron frames,
videlicet, those which rest on the piles, are so arranged as to receive
when required iron plates or a hoarding for the prevention of scour. On
the inner side of these frames thus fixed and bolted together we bolt
perforated curved or flat plates placed at suitable distances apart; the
curved plates are of the same height as the frames and of a suitable
width; they are placed at an angle to the frames, such angle depending
on their position. In some cases these angle plates may be placed
horizontally.
By means of a breakwater or sea wall thus constructed, the sea in
striking it is broken up as it passes through the open spaces of the iron-
work forming the breakwater or sea wall, and is further broken up and
then partly diverted inwards by the perforated curved or flat plates
herein-before described.
In the construction of a pier or jetty, we employ two tiers or sea walls
constructed as herein-before described, their distance apart depending
on the width required for the pier. On these walls are placed cast-iron
ribs or columns suitably connected together by cross girders, on which
is placed the planking forming the platform of the pier.
When the pier is to be utilized for bathing purposes we erect rooms
or boxes at the sides of our improved piers, such rooms communicating
with suitably constructed chambers projecting from the side of the pier
and suitably suspended so that they may be lowered and raised when
required. The first-described rooms or boxes serve as dressing rooms,
from which the bather passes into the suspended chamber, which he
lowers, or which is lowered by the attendant to the water, and having
finished bathing, the chamber is raised to the pier and the bather passes
to the dressing room.