Improvements in Sheet Piling.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 9th May, 1899-Accepted, 2nd Sept., 1899
Improvements in Sheet Piling.
I, WILLIAM D'HERTBURN WASHINGTON, of No. 1, Broadway, in the City,
County and State of New York, United States of America, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained, in and by the following
statement:-
It is one of the objects of my invention to facilitate the placing of sheet piling
employed in the construction of coffer dams, and for other purposes, by adapting
it to be sunk in sections of considerable width.
The invention consists in the peculiar construction of these sections, and
further in the peculiar construction of a caisson composed of a number of sec-
tions, all as more fully hereinafter described.
In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of two adjoining sections of my
sheet-piling.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the apparatus employed for sinking a section, which
latter is shown in cross-section.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through a portion of two adjoining sections.
Fig. 4 is a similar view through a metallic construction.
Fig. 5 is a detail of a corner for joining two sections at right angles to each
other.
Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the hollow shoc, attached to the bottom edge
of the section.
Fig. 7 is a cross-section showing the manner of weighting a section to assist
in sinking the same.
Fig. 8 is an elevation of sections of the sheet piling composed of a number of
sub-sections adapted to be jointly or independently moved.
Fig. 9 is a horizontal section through a caisson composed of sections of sheet
piling.
A represents a section of my sheet piling, which in Figs. 1 and 3 of the
drawings is shown as composed of a single ply of boards or planks a arranged
edge to edge, and connected together by cross-bolts B. These bolts pass later-
ally through the center of the planks, each bolt preferably extending through
but two of the planks and provided at each end with the clamping nuts b,
countersunk into the edges of the planks, the bolts connecting the adjoining
pairs of planks being staggered so as not to weaken the structure at any one
point.
The lower edge of the section is shod with a perforated hollow cutting shoe C,
composed of a number of short sections arranged end to end and bolted or other-
wise secured to the planking. The lower portion of the shoe is of a wedge
shaped cross-section, the cutting edge being notched or serrated and in each of
the notches is formed a perforation or jet aperture e communicating with the
central chamber. D are water inlet pipes connected to each section of the shoe
and extending to the upper end of the sheeting.

page_text: The upper edge of the section A is preferably provided with reinforcing
strips E and one end is also reinforced by the strips F secured upon opposite
ends of the planking and overlapping the edge so as to form a groove with
which the edge of the adjoining section may be engaged.
The sections being thus constructed they may be sunk into position in the
following manner:
The first section is erected in the proper position with the shoe C either
resting on the surface of the ground, or in a shallow trench. The pipes D are
then connected by flexible pipes G controlled by the valves G to a source of
supply of water under pressure, which may be furnished by the pump H (shown
in Fig. 2 of the drawings).
A downward pressure is exerted on the section,, either, through the tackle I,
attached to the upper end of the section and to the anchors J on opposite sides
thereof, or by weights K which may be suspended on chairs K¹ hung over the
upper edge of the section (as shown in Fig. 7) or both devices may be employed.
When the valves G¹ are opened water will be admitted to the chambers in
the shoes and jetting down through the apertures c will wash away the earth'
digging a narrow well below the section, while the downward pressure on the
latter will simultaneously sink it into the well. The escaping water will. pass
up on opposite sides of the section carrying with it the loosened earth which
may be carried off in the trenches L. By adjusting the valves G¹ the quantity
of water admitted to the different shoes may be varied according to the hardness
of the soil.
After the first section has been sunk some distance into the earth, a second
may be started with its edge engaged with the groove edge of the first section
which will guide it in its downward movement; thus the sections may be sunk
successively the last one always being guided by the preceding one.
If a turn is to be made, a corner connection such as M, (Fig. 5) may be used,
provided with the braces M' and the guide strips M², at each end, with which
the box shaped guides N on the ends of the sections may be engaged.
For a certain class of work, I preferably employ a sheet piling composed of
metallic sections O, as shown in Fig. 4, provided with the overlapping rein-
forcing strips 01 riveted to one end of the section.
Where it is desired to sink the sheet piling down to the bed rock, I prefer-
ably employ the construction shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, in which each
section is composed of a number of sub-sections A' A² etc. which preferably
engage with each other by a tongue and groove joint. When the main, section
is to be sunk the sub-sections may be secured together by clamps P or by any
suitable means, and the operation proceeded with as before described. After
sinking the main section to a certain depth the clamps P may be removed and
the sub-sections sunk independently. Thus if the surface of the rock is irre-
gular or inclined the sub-sections may be sunk to different depths to conform
to the shape of the rock.
In Fig. 9 of the drawings, I show my invention as applied to the construction
of a caisson in which Q are staves or sections of sheet piling united to form a
cylindrical caisson and clamped preferably by the bands or hoops R, each section
being shod with a shoe C connected to the pipe 1) leading to its upper end.
The caisson thus formed may be sunk as a whole by a similar process to that
already described as employed in sinking the sections of sheet piling.. When
a certain depth is reached the bands R may be loosened and the staves sunk
independently to bed rock.
. "
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The hereindescribed sheet piling comprising a plurality of main sections
each composed of a plurality of sub-sections comprising a single ply of boards

page_text: or planks arranged edge to edge and united by bolts extending laterally there-
through, hollow perforated shoes secured to the lower edge of the planking, and
pipes extending upward from said hollow perforated shoes.
2. A section of sheet piling composed of a single ply of board or planks a
arranged edge to edge and united by the bolts B, extending laterally there-
through, the hollow perforated shoes C, formed in sections and secured to lower
edge of the planking, and the pipes D extending upward from such section of
the shoe.
3. The hereindescribed sheet piling composed of a plurality of main sections
each comprising a plurality of sub-sections, means for securing the sub-sections.
together to form the main section, whereby each main section may be sunk as
a whole and the sub-sections can be sunk independently of each other.
4. The herein described sheet piling comprising a plurality of main sections,
each made up of a series of subsections, detachable means for securing the sub-
sections together, and means for sinking each main section as a whole.
5. The herein described sheet piling comprising a plurality of main sections,
each made up of a series of subsections, detachable means for securing the sub-
sections together, means for sinking each main section and means for guiding
one main section relative to the adjacent main section.
6. The combination with two sections of sheet piling extending at an angle
to each other and provided with the box shaped guide N on their adjacent ends,
and of the corner connection M provided with the guide strips M³ with which
the guides N are adapted to engage.
Dated April 14th 189I.
WILLIAM D'HERTBURN WASHINGTON.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.