AN IMPROVED HYDRAULIC BETON
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacques Drevet, of Rue Montaigne, No. 9,
Paris, Architect, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED HYDRAULIC
BETON."
Sealed the 4th March 1873, and dated the 5th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacques Drevet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th September 1872.
I, JACQUES DREVET, of Rue Montaigne, No. 9, Paris, Architect, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
HYDRAULIC BETON," to be as follows:-
The hydraulic beton which I have combined and which. I name
"béton Français," is composed of the following essential agents; first,
sand, the preference being given to sea or river sand, silex, earth, or
river mud; secondly, marine salt with the addition of oxide of iron;
and thirdly, hydraulic cement.

page_text: The beton is prepared in the following manner :-For example 6,615 lbs.
avoirdupois, of marine salt is dissolved in 528 pints of ordinary water,
and this solution is thrown into 352 pints of also ordinary water, to
which is added a certain quantity of oxide of iron proportionately
to the strength of the saline solution.
With the saline solution thus diluted either the sand, the silex, the
earth, or the river mud is thoroughly wetted, and allowed to macerate
for three hours at least in order that the sand or analogous matter shall
be fully impregnated with salt water, and that the combination should
work well.
If the hydraulic beton is prepared near the sea the 352 pints of common
water prepared as before described are replaced by 88 pints of sea water
with a proportionate quantity of oxide of iron.
I now take four parts of the sand thus prepared with salt or sea water
and one part of any kind of hydraulic cement, and the four parts of sand
are powdered with the one part of cement, and then all is to be well
mixed together.
In this state the beton can be immediately used for forming blocks,
stopping leaks, or for other purposes according to the requirements of
the work.
The beton thus prepared should be used in the space of thirty-four or
thirty-six minutes at most, for the beton begins to set about thirty-eight
or forty minutes from the commencement of mixing.
The addition of oxide of iron to the salt water employed imparts an
unequalled hardness and durability to the beton. To unite for example
a block of this beton at the bottom of the water I take some hydraulic
lime, which is moistened with drying oil to form it into a paste, and
plaster with this paste the joint which is to be united, and then the
block is allowed to descend to rest upon the bed of beton or stone
plastered with the hydraulic paste, and the joining is unalterable. This
paste or layer of hydraulic cement moistened with drying oil may be
employed with advantage for all hydraulic coverings, frescoes, or "dis-
temper" work of various colors and coatings and facings of buildings
and edifices to preserve them from damp.
i
In the composition of this beton the reaction of the salt absorbs the
water of crystallization from the sand, and the intimate attraction which
results in connection with the hydraulic cement gives to the mixture a

page_text: metallic hardness without malleability, and this beton is applicable to
hydraulic works and architectural buildings.
The mixture intended for the beton can be colored as required by
means of mineral colors suited to the work for which it is used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jacques Drevet in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACQUES
DREVET, of Rue Montaigne, No. 9, Paris, Architect, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Jacques Drevet, Her special licence that
I, the said Jacques Drevet, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Jacques Drevet, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 HYDRAULIC BETON," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jacques Drevet, my execu-
tors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, 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 Jacques Drevet, 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 (that is to say) :-
The hydraulic beton which I have combined and which I name
"béton Français" is composed of the following essential agents; first,

page_text: .
sand, silex, or river mud; secondly, marine salt with the addition of
oxide of iron; and thirdly, hydraulic cement.
The beton is prepared in the following manner:-For example three
kilogrammes, that is 6.615 or nearly six pounds and three quarters,
avoirdupois, of marine salt is dissolved in three litres, that is 5.28 or
about five and quarter pints of ordinary water, and this solution is
thrown into 200 litres or 352 pints of also ordinary water to which
is added a certain quantity of oxide of iron.
With the saline solution thus diluted either the sand (the preference
being giving to sea or river sand), the silex, the earth, or the river mud
is thoroughly wetted and allowed to macerate for three hours at least
in order that the sand or analogous matter shall be fully impregnated
with salt water, and that the combination should work well.
1
If the hydraulic beton is prepared near the sea the 352 pints of
common water prepared as before described is replaced by fifty litres or
88 pints of sea water with oxide of iron added to it.
I now take. four parts of the sand thus prepared with salt or sea.
water, and one part of any. kind of hydraulic cement, and the four
parts of sand are powdered with the one part of cement, and then all is
to be well mixed together.
In this state the beton can be immediately used for forming blocks,
stopping leaks, or for other purposes according to the requirements of the
work.
The beton thus prepared should be used in the space of thirty-four to
thirty-six minutes at most, for the beton begins to set at about thirty-
eight or forty minutes from the commencement of mixing, and the
addition of the oxide of iron to the salt water gives to the beton an
unequalled hardness and durability. To unite for example a block of
this beton at the bottom of the water I take some hydraulic lime and
moisten it with drying oil to form it into a paste, and plaster with this
paste the joint which is to be united, and then the block is caused to
descend to rest upon the bed block or stone plastered with the hydraulic
paste and the joining is unalterable. This paste or layer of hydraulic
lime moistened with drying oil may be employed with advantage for
all hydraulic coverings, various colored frescoes, coating or recoating.
buildings and edifices, in order to preserve them from the attacks of damp
and render them completely hydraulic..

page_text: In the composition of this beton the reaction of the salts absorbs the
water of crystallization from the sand or its equivalent, and the intimate
attraction resulting from the co-operation, concurrence, or connection of
the hydraulic cement gives to the mixture a metallic hardness without
malleability.
The mixture intended for the beton can be colored as required by
means of mineral colors suited to the work for which it is used, and the
beton is applicable to hydraulic works and architectural constructions.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it
to be understood that I claim, the new hydraulic beton called "béton
Français" and its special combination formed of three agents.
First. Sand (sea or river sand preferred), silex, earth, or river mud.
Secondly. Marine salt with the addition of oxide of iron.
And thirdly. Hydraulic cement. The three agents being combined
according to the proportion and mode of preparation herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said. Jacques Drevet, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
ALBERT CAHEN,
Civil Engineer,
32, Boulevard Magenta,
at Paris.
JACQUES DREVET. (L.S.)