US2655790A

US2655790A - Means to deposit water-borne sand

Info

Publication number: US2655790A
Application number: US319974A
Authority: US
Inventors: James R Daley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-11-12
Filing date: 1952-11-12
Publication date: 1953-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 1970-10-20

Description

Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNITED STAT E S ATENT' OFF 1 6E S T DEPOSIT WATER-BORNES'AND James R. Daley, Amherst, Ohio Application November 12, 1952, Serial No; 3191971 Claims. 1

This. invention relatesto meansfor depositing water-borne sand for the protection of, beaches and banks fromerosion- The problem oi protecting: beaches; and banks from erosion by waves and currents. is one of long standing. Many attemptsxhavebeen. made to protect such beaches but; the; only complete success which. has heretofore been; obtainedhas been by: the. construction of heavy, massive; masonry breakwallst have been made to create protective sandbars by-placing barriers-in the path of the waves to slow up the water and cause the deposition of sand; These barriers. have generally been. unsuccessful because. the water tends to scour out and undermine the foundations of" the barriers, causing them to topple over and lose their! effec tiveness. Yet experience has: shown that av natural sandbar provides the best protection against the destructive effects of the waves. For

example, long stretches of the Massachusetts shore are protected by large natural sand bars standing Well out from the shore which cause the waves to break and lose their force before they can drive onto the beaches and destroy them.

The object of the present invention therefore is to provide economical and effective means of producing such sand bars for the protection of beaches and the banks of streams which are subject to erosion.

Another object is to provide means for creating sand bars which takes the form of a permeable barrier permitting water to flow through it with equal ease in both directions.

Another object is to provide a barrier for creating sand bars which is economical to manufacture and which is easy to install in the desired locations, and which is readily adaptable to varying water depths and local current conditions.

Further objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following description of a preferred form of the invention, reference bein had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of apparatus comprising a plurality of vanes embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional View, on an enlarged scale, of one of the vanes of Figure 1, illustrating in dotted lines the manner in which the vanes are free to bend;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale showing one of the vanes of the apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan View showing diagrammatically a number of units, such as shown in Figure In some: cases attempts 21'. arranged. in apatterrr effective for: use; and

Figure 5 is a plan View showing diagrammatically another. arrangement of aplurality or units such as shown in Figure. 1.

The invention takes the form: of permeable barrier which permits the water topass through the barrier with equal ease in both directions so that a sand bar will be built upon bothsides of the barrier, The: flowof thewat'er through the barrier is directed-Liupwardly-to preventany scouring action whichusu'ally occurs entheshore side of the prior art: barriers, The upward fiow of water causesit torlose'velocity and toidrop its suspended sa'nd; and graveladiac'ent: the barrier; Eventually the barrier is: completely buried by the formation of the sand bar;

A preferred form of the inventionscernprises a base l-Ci havingtapluralilty or": upright; supports 11: which: are adapted to support. a. plurality of parallel vanes i2. For convenience, the portion of the apparatus, including a pair of adjacent uprights, together with the vanes extending between them, will be referred to as a unit. It is to be understood that as many units, each comprising as many vanes as are necessary, may be employed to provide the desired protection. For example, in Figure 4, four such units, each referred to as l5, are aligned to form the main protective barrier and an additional four units extend in pairs, as shown, each end of the main barrier, acting in a manner to stabilize the ends of the sand bar which is formed. Another arrangement is shown in Figure 5 but in this case only two units are shown at each end of the main portion. It will be apparent that these are only two of the possible arrangements of units embodying the invention. Both of the examples illustrated have proved successful but the final disposition of the units will in large part be dictated by the actual conditions of the water and currents which are encountered.

Each vane I2 comprises a flexible strip it of rubber, plastic or the like which is mounted along its lower edge in a longitudinally extending U-shaped metal clamp ll. If desired, the U- section I! may be reinforced with an angle iron, not shown. The strip may be held within the strip I! merely by clamping pressure alone but, if desired, rivets or other fasteners may be used. The vanes l2 are secured to the uprights II by bolts or rivets I8 extending through the clamping strips I! and through the flanges of the uprights, which, in this particular example, take the form of angle irons. With this manner of mounting, the vanes are free to flex and bend 3 about the metal strips H as a hinge point. This flexing or yielding action permits water to pass readily through the barrier and at the same time impedes the water sufiiciently to cause any sand which is suspended in the water to be deposited adjacent the base of the unit.

One of the features of the invention is that, by virtue of the vanes being hinged about their lower edges, the water passing through the barrier, in either direction, is directed upwardly away from the base of the apparatus. This deflection of the water upwardly prevents any scouring action which might otherwise undermine the base. Another advantage in having the vanes hinged at their lower edges is that a vane will continue to be flexible even though half buried in sand, whereas vanes hinged at their top edges become locked in place as soon as the bottom edge is buried. With the present invention each vane continues to function effectively until it is virtually completely buried.

In some cases it may be desirable to slit the flexible portions of the vanes vertically at intervals so as to give the vanes more freedom to flex and permit water to pass through. Such slits are indicated at 20 in the vanes of Figure 1.

The base It is shown in the present example as being of solid sheet metal. It may, however, take the form of a heavy screen or in some cases may merely comprise bars extending transversely to the uprights. The uprights, if necessary, may be braced as by the members 2|, but again the manner of bracing is a matter of choice. Only six vanes are shown in the present example, but it will be apparent that the uprights may be extended and as many vanes as are necessary may be added.

Further modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the essential features of which are summarized in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A barrier adapted to be positioned in the path of moving water to protect shores from erosion, comprising a support, a plurality of horizontal, parallel vanes of flexible material mounted on said support, said vanes having fixed bottom edges, and top edges free to move in either direction by flexing of the vanes, whereby water passing between said vanes will be directed upwardly and slowed in velocity to deposit sand adjacent the base of said vanes.

2. A barrier according to claim 1 in which said vanes comprise strips of flexible rubber-like material mounted along their bottom edges on relatively rigid metal supporting strips.

3. A barrier according to claim 2 in which said metal strips are secured to spaced upright supporting members secured to a base of substantial area.

4. A barrier according to claim 3 in which said vanes are slit vertically at intervals between said uprights from said free upper edges downwardly toward the said bottom edges.

5. A barrier according to claim 2 in which said metal strips are substantially U-shaped in section with the legs thereof clamping the faces of the strips immediately adjacent the bottom edges therebetween.

JAMES R. DALEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 278,975 Koon June 5, 1883 2,185,458 Giliasso Jan. 2, 1940