IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING
Year: 1850

page_text: WOODS SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS.
FREDERICK WOODS, of Pelham Terrace, Brompton, in the County of Middle-
sex, Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirtieth day of November, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Francis Frederick Woods, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Francis Frederick Woods, my exors, admors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Francis Frederick Woods, my exors,;
adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time,
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PAVING;" in which said Letters,
Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Francis Frederick Woods,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's,
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said,
Francis Frederick Woods, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be perforined, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference;

page_text: being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in paving relates to a mode or modes of
combining wood and stone, either with or without other materials, for the
purpose of forming the surfaces of streets, roads, ways, and other places, so
that the objections incidental to pavements constructed of either of the
materials alone may be obviated, and a good, useful, and durable pavement
produced.
My improved paving is constructed principally of wooden blocks with the
grain of the wood inclining upwards, and in the top part of each block I make
grooves, recesses, or indentations in which I place coarse gravel, broken stone,
or broken granite, such as is used for macadamizing roads, and which, when
properly compacted together, will cause the surface to present the appearance
of a pavement composed partly of wood and partly of stone. In some cases,
in place of using stone of the above-mentioned description, I introduce into the
grooves of the wooden blocks roughly hewn stones of a more regular shape,
such as are frequently employed for paving roadways.
I do not intend to confine myself to any particular form of wooden block,
nor to the shape or arrangement of the recesses, grooves, or indentations to be
formed therein for the reception of the stone, as their forms and arrangements
may be varied without departing from the principle and object of my improve-
ments. I have, however, in the accompanying Drawings shewn various plans
of carrying my Invention into effect, and which I believe will in practice be
found to answer satisfactorily.
Fig. 1 represents a horizontal view of a portion of pavement formed of
rectangular blocks of wood of any convenient size, say from about six to four-
teen inches on their surfaces and about six inches deep. In the upper side of
each of these blocks I cut deep parallel recesses or grooves a, a, a, as seen in
the vertical section, Fig. 2, which grooves may be about two and a half
inches wide and four inches deep; and when the blocks are properly placed on
the bed of the roadway, previously prepared for them in the manner hereafter
explained, the grooves a, a, are to be fitted with broken stones, as shewn in the
Drawing, so that the surface of each block presents the appearance of about
half wood and half stone. These wooden blocks are to be supported upon a
substratum composed of half-inch planking laid on a concrete of lime and
gravel, the surface of the road having been previously levelled and properly
prepared for the reception of the bed of concrete and substratum of planking.
When the concrete foundation of the roadway has been prepared, the boards
or planks are to be laid down close together lengthwise across the road. By

page_text: these means the under drainage will be materially assisted, and mud prevented
from rising up between the blocks. The wooden blocks are then to be laid
on the planked foundation and the stones inserted into the grooves, as described,
and sand to fill the interstices, or fine gråvel mixed with ground lime applied.
In the employment of this construction of paving having a boarded foundation,"
it will be found that the weight of the vehicles passing over the paving, and
the effects of wear and tear occasioned by the traffic, will be more equally dis-
tributed over the surface of the road than when unsupported blocks are used.
I may observe that it will be found convenient to cut longitudinal grooves
about four inches high and two inches wide in the under sides of the blocks
used for the gutters or kennels, with side openings, for the purpose of receiving
and carrying off the under drainage from the other blocks to the nearest gully-.
hole.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modification of the above, the only difference being
that the grooves in the wooden blocks are filled with roughly hewn stones, that
is, stones partially squared, of about three inches wide and four inches deep.
Fig. 4 represents a horizontal view of another modification of my improved
pavement; and Fig. 5 is a vertical section of one of the blocks shewn in Fig. 4.
In this instance, in place of making long grooves in the blocks, as before
described, I make recesses of any desired form b, b, and fill those recesses with
large gravel or broken stones c, such as are used for macadamizing roads.
Between the interstices of the broken stone in the recesses of the blocks I
insert, either in a dry or liquid state, ground lime mixed with small gravel,.
the broken stones being rammed into the recesses by hammers or otherwise,
so as to bring them level with the surfaces of the wooden blocks.
Fig. 6 represents another modification of the above; the only difference
here being that the wooden blocks are made hexagonal instead of square, as in
Fig. 4, the recesses in the blocks being filled with stone and concrete, in the
manner last described.
Fig. 7 is a plan or horizontal view of a portion of paving constructed in a
different form and manner from either of those hitherto described. In this
instance, the blocks of wood to receive the alternate series of stones are made
from ordinary three-inch deal planks, which usually run eleven inches wide.
These planks I cut into lengths of about six inches, so as to form rectangular
pieces, which when placed with the grain of the wood erect will appear as
shewn in perspective at Fig. 8, say eleven inches by three inches on the upper
surface and six inches deep. These pieces of plank are to be placed side by
side, each blocking the joints of those next adjoining, and lengthways crossing
the road. Before laying down these portions of planks to constitute blocks in

page_text: which the stones are to be inserted, I cut angular pieces off each, as shewn by
dotted lines in the last-mentioned Figure; and when a number of these pieces
are combined, as shewn at Fig. 7, and fastened together by any suitable
means, zig-zag grooves will be formed, in which the broken stones are to be
inserted, in the way already described and represented in this Figure, for the
purpose of producing a pavement of wood and stone combined, ranging in zig-
zag lines from side to side of the roadway. It will of course be understood.
that the same foundation or substratum of concrete and gravel with planks or
boards thereon may be used, whatever the peculiar shape or configuration of
the wooden blocks may be, and the employment of this foundation, as well as
the use of a grouting or concrete composed of ground lime and gravel for
filling the interstices, may in some measure be left to the discretion of the
constructor, and must depend upon circumstances, as in some cases where the
traffic is not great a saving of expense may be effected by dispensing with the
use of planks or boards for a substratum; but in all cases where the traffic is
considerable I consider it absolutely necessary that the directions above given
should be adhered to as closely as possible.
Lastly, having described my improvements in paving, I desire it to be
understood that I claim as the particular feature of novelty and Invention
secured to me under and by the above in part recited Letters Patent, the com-
bination of wood and stone for the construction of pavings for roads and other
ways, as set forth and described by the accompanying Drawings and the
explanation thereof above given.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Frederick Woods, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
FRANCIS F. WOODS. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Francis Frederick Woods came