IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL STONE OR CONCRETE PAVEMENT AND SIDEWALKO AND AND
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Leslie Ransome, residing in the City and County
of San Francisco, State of California, one of the United States of America
for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL STONE OR CONCRETE
PAVEMENT AND SIDEWALKO AND
"
TUMWAR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest Leslie Ransome at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th July 1882.
ERNEST LESLIE RANSOME, residing in the City and County of San Francisco,
State of California, one of the United States of America IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARTIFICIAL STONE OR CONCRETE PAVEMENT AND SIDE WALKS AND METHOD OF
LAYING THE SAME OVER CHAMBERS CELLARS AND OTHER EXCAVATIONS
"
My invention relates to an improved method of forming artificial stone.or
concrete pavement or sidewalks over basements, cellars and other chambers or
excavations.
Hitherto it has been customary in building such pavements to first fill in.
between the beams bearers or other supports with brick or concrete arching or
slabs and afterwards lay the pavement upon the surface thus created and separate
therefrom.
A method has also been described in which the whole pavement ie, those parts
between the bearers and those parts above are formed in one piece with the
bearers imbedded in the concrete but whilst this is preferable to the first described
pavement in respect to cost, an objection exists thereto by reason of such pavement
cracking and breaking over the line of the bearers; for it is apparent that any
little settlement of the foundations or even the contraction and expansion of the
materials themselves would cause such breaking.
And the object of my invention is to make a pavement as cheap as the latter
and yet free from unsightly cracking.
The following description fully explains my said invention and the manner of
practicing employing and using it, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings in which ;

page_text: Figure 1. Shows a section of pavement laid over an excavation according to my
invention.
Figures 2, and 3, show modifications.
I form a pavement or surface over an opening or excavation as at figure 1, by
filling in the spaces between parallel beams or bearers C, C, with the brick artificial
stone or concrete D, and finishing the top surface thereof smooth and flush with
the top of the beams or bearers.
In this manner I produce a pavement in the form of solid sections, slabs or
blocks of any suitable length and breadth each separated and detached from the
other by the bearers supporting it.
Also I form such pavements into blocks but with the top surface carried over
the tops of the bearers, so that instead of being exposed to form a part of the
surface itself, the edges of the bearers are covered by the stone or concrete as it is
filled in between the spaces, the joints being directly over and along the tops of
the bearer as is seen at figure 2.
This gives a continuous surface of artificial stone or cement which is more
finished than the construction shown at figure 1.
By forming in the pavement block a, as it is laid, a recess f on each side
adjoining a bearer and extending down thereto and running therewith the whole
width of the block and then allowing it to become sufficiently set, I can fill in
these recesses with similar material as at G, and thereby cover the edges of the
bearers.
This construction is both for ornamental purposes and for preventing unsightly
cracks in the body of the blocks and to further these objects the pavement can
also be subdivided on the surface by cutting or marking lines, or stamping patterns
thereon, and these lines or patterns may extend into the blocks to any depth not
inconsistent with the stability of the work.
These sections G, can be formed of material of different color or composition from
the blocks A, A, if desired and in practice I prefer to remove the angle at the
bottom of the recess, f by filling the corners fl in order to remove any tendency
to crack at this point.
By either one or all of these forms of carrying out my invention I produce
a firm solid pavement of great durability, free from any liability to crack upon
exposure to varying temperature and at a much less cost per foot than any
construction of the kind heretofore employed.
I am aware that similar structures between beams or bearers, have been formed
of concrete or brick in which the bearers project to the surface; but such surfaces
had no finish and were incomplete and unsightly as well as unserviceable until
a floor or top surface of wood or other matter was laid thereon.
This is not my invention which relates to pavements in which the finished
wearing surface is altogether or in part an integral portion of the mass of concrete
or brick between the bearers.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Ernest Leslie Ransome in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th January 1883.
ERNEST LESLIE RANSOME, residing in the City and County of San Francisco,
State of California, One of the United States of America, "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARTIFICIAL STONE OR CONCRETE PAVEMENT AND SIDE WALKS AND METHOD OF
LAYING THE SAME OVER CHAMBERS CELLARS AND OTHER EXCAVATIONS
"
My Invention relates to an improved method of forming artificial stone or
concrete pavements or side walks over basements cellars and other chambers or
excavations.
Hitherto it has been customary in building such pavements to first fill in
between the beams bearers or other supports with brick, or concrete arching or
slabs and afterwards lay the pavement upon the surface thus created, and separate
therefrom.
A method has also been described in which the whole pavement-that is to say
those parts between the bearers and those parts above is formed in one piece with
the bearers imbedded in the concrete; but while this is preferable to the first
described pavement in respect to cost, an objection exists thereto by reason of
such pavement cracking and breaking over the line of the bearers; for it is
apparent that any little settlement of the foundations, or even the contraction and
expansion of the materials themselves would cause such breaking, and the object
of my Invention is to make a pavement as cheap as the latter and yet free from
unsightly cracking.
The following description fully explains my said invention, and the manner
of practising, employing and using it, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings in which :—
Figure 1 shows a section of pavement laid over an excavation according to my
Invention
Figure 2 is a modification.
I form a pavement or surface over an opening or excavation, as at B Fig: 1,
by filling in the spaces between parallel beams or bearer C, C, with artificial
stone, or concrete D and finishing the top surface thereof smooth and flush with
the top of the beams or bearers.
In this manner I produce a pavement in the form of solid sections, slabs or
blocks of any suitable length and breadth, each separated and detached from the
other by the bearers supporting it; also I form such pavements into blocks, but
with the top surface carried over the tops of the bearers so that instead of being
exposed to form a part of the surface itself the edges of the bearers are covered
by the stone or concrete as it is filled in between the spaces, the joints being
then directly over and along the tops of the bearer, as is seen at E Fig: 1.
These joints may be continued down through the material to the top of the
bearer or to any lesser distance below the surface that may be found sufficient to
prevent irregular cracking at that point and may be formed by any of the methods
practised by layers of Concrete pavements.
Also, I lay upon and along the surface of the bearers or supports upon which
the concrete rests, a layer of elastic material or substance such as a strip of soft
wood, a thickness of felt, or any substance of a character that will yield and
accommodate its surface to any change in the mass of concrete or pavement material
pressing upon it from above. This elastic surface is interposed between the
pavement material and the web of the bearer for its entire length; and where
the bearers have a flange on top, the elastic surface is also laid along the top of
each flange.

page_text: The purpose of this part or feature in my improvements is to place and support
the concrete directly upon a slightly elastic or yielding surface instead of upon
a rigid surface, as the metal of the bearers, and thereby prevent the formation
of cracks in the pavement by any displacement of the supports from their normal
position.
This gives a continuous surface of concrete which is more finished perhaps than
the construction shown at D.
By forming in the pavement block A, as it is laid, a recess f on each side adjoining
a bearer and extending down thereto and running therewith the whole width of the
block and then allowing it to become sufficiently set, I can fill in these recesses
with similar material, as at G, and thereby cover the edges of the bearers.
This construction is both for ornamental purposes and for preventing unsightly
cracks in the body of the blocks.
These sections G can be formed of material of different color or composition from
the blocks A, A, if desired, and in practice I prefer to remove the angle at the
bottom of the recess f, by filling in the corners f¹, in order to remove any tendency
to crack at this point.
The slabs, when they are laid, may be marked off into squares or other figures,
as shown by the lines h in Fig: 1, to give a finish to the pavement.
'
By either one or all of these forms of carrying out my invention I produce
a firm, solid pavement of great durability, free from any liability to crack in
becoming set, and at much less cost per foot than any construction of the kind
heretofore employed.
"
I am aware that similar structures between beams or bearers have been formed
of concrete or brick in which the bearers project to the surface; but such surfaces
had no finish and were incomplete and unsightly, as well as unserviceable until
a floor or top surface of other matter was laid thereon. This is not my invention
which relates to pavements in which the finished wearing-surface is altogether,
or in part, an integral portion of the mass of concrete between the bearers or
supports.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is or may be performed
I Claim as secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent.-
Firstly. The herein described pavement, consisting of the arched concrete
pieces D, formed to fill in between and cover over the braces or supports C, each
piece filling the space between two supports and covering about one half of the
supports, substantially as set forth
Secondly. A pavement with finished wearing-surface constructed between,
above and over beams or bearers, the sections or blocks of which are jointed
over and along the top of the bearers so that the pavement shall present a
continuous concrete surface and still have the separating lines, substantially as
described.
Thirdly. A pavement with finished wearing surface constructed between and
above beams or bearers, having recesses lying over the supports f, as described,
which are filled in flush with the surface, either with the same, or with other
pavement material substantially as described.
In Witness whereof I the said Ernest Leslie Ransome have hereunto set
my hand and seal this fifth day of December in the year of Our Lord
One thousand Eight hundred and Eighty two.