US600467A - Means for protecting shores or building jetties - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

T. S. WILKINSON.

MEANS FOR PROTECTING SHORES ORSBUILDING JBTTIES.

No. 600,467. Patented Mar. 8, 1898.

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UNrrnn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE S. \VILKINSON, OF MYRTLE GROVE, LOUISIANA.

MEANS FOR PROTECTING SHORES OR BUILDING JETTIES:

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,467, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed September 3,1897. Serial No. 650,521. (No model.)

T 0 aaZZ whom it Duty concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE S. WILKIN- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Myrtle Grove, in the parish of Plaquemines and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Protecting Shores or Building J etties and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in means for protecting shores or for building jetties; and it consists in providing certain improved means for building mattresses or the like, whereby the shore is protected from erosion or the jetty is built in whole or in part.

My said invention will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same parts are indicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure 1 represents a plan view of the bank of a stream, showing my improved means as used to prevent erosion. Fig.2 represents a side elevation of a portion of a mattress or jetty constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 3 represents a similar view of a modification of the same. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 represent various forms of bands of material whose specific gravity is heavier than Water and adapted for use with my invention. Fig. 8 represents a diagrammatic view of several of the sections of the mattresses or jetties constructed in accordance with my invention and secured together by a rope or chain for use wherever there is considerable current.

A represents a part of a stream or river, the direction of whose current is indicated by the arrow.

B represents the bank of the stream, which in Fig. 1 is represented as in the form of a levee, which is shown as eroded on its front face, as at I), and protected, as at D, by a plurality of bundles of the mattresses or jetties constructed in accordance with my invention.

WVhile I have shown the banks of the river as in the form of a levee B, the same means of protection against erosion of the bank would be applicable to almost any form of bank ordinarily found by running streams, more especially where the bank is of soft material, sand, or the like.

D, Fig. 2, represents one of the sections or parts of the mattress or jetty, which consists of a plurality of pieces of willowor other brush, cane, or the like, having branches and preferably the leaves thereon, as indicated at d, and which have their lower ends shoved from opposite sides into the ring or band E. In the form of device shown at D in Fig. 3 the portions of willow, cane, or other brush are shoved into the band from one side only.

This band may be made cylindrical, as shown at E in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 8, but it may be made of any desired or preferred shapesuch, for instance, as the shapes E E E (Shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7.) In the latter figure the band shown is provided with studs or projections e adapted to engage into the ground or the brush beneath; but this may be omitted, if desired.

In Fig. 8 the plurality of sections, which may be made as shown in this figure or as shown in Fig. 3 and which may be provided with bands of any desired shape or form, are secured together by the rope F, which, after these sections have been placed into the Water, are secured to the stake or stump G or to any other convenient place.

The bands E and E should preferably be made of cast-iron or other cheap and heavy material which has a specific gravity considerably greater than water; but I do not desire to limit myself to any particular material for this purpose so long as the material selected has a specific gravity sufficiently greater than water to readily sink the mass of brush secured by the band.

The operation of the device is as follows: Where the current is not great, a plurality of the sections such as are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with bands such as are shown in Figs. 4 and 7, are thrown into the water at the point where it is desired to protect the shores from erosion or to build up the jetty. The band causes the lighter material to sink into the water, and the mass, reaching the bottom, will settle there, if the current be not too strong, and the brush will cause the water to deposit its sediment, forming a jetty or a pro tection to the shore to be protected. Where the current of water is slight, cylindrical bands and approximately cylindrical bundles of brush may be used, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4; but where the current is somewhat stronger bands shaped like those in Figs. 5 to 7 may be used, which will allow the bundle of brush to roll slightly until it reaches stable equilibrium, when the strength of the water will not be sufficient to upset the bundle and when the sediment will speedily deposit, firmly holding the bundle in position' The prongs 6 (shown in Fig. 7) would serve to engage the mud in the bottom of the stream or in the brush of any ofthe bundles beneath and would tend to prevent the upper bundle from sliding along the bottom; but these prongs are not always necessary and may ordinarily be omitted, if desired. Where the current is so strong as to roll or carry away the bundles, it may be desired to secure the same one behind another or in any other convenient wayfor instance, as shown in Fig. 8-and then to secure a line of these bundles to a stake or stump or some other convenient object, as shown in Fig. 8. It will be obvious that a number of tiers of these bundles may be piled one upon the other either by simply throwing them in, one bundle at a time, as illustrated in Fig. 1 or by using several lines of these bundles, as shown in Fig. 8, and tying them all to one or more objects, such as a stump or stake G, by means of one or more ropes or chains. In this Way a bank may be protected against erosion or jetties may be provided when desired. It will also be obvious that numbers of these bundles may be piled in between lines of piling or in front of a single line of piling when desired, the weight of the bands being sufficient to submerge the bundle and thus in a large measure prevent erosion beneath the same.

It will be obvious that a great many modifications of the herein-described bundles might be made which could be used without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In the method of building jetties as now ordinarily practiced an expensive plant is required and considerable difficulty is experienced in providing mattresses and in holding them down with. stone. Where small jetties are required or it is desired to protect against comparatively slight erosion, the methods now ordinarily adopted are too expensive, and the herein-described invention provides a simple, cheap, and convenient means for building small jetties and for protecting banks against erosion either on a small scale or when certain emergencies arise and it is impracticable to take advantage of the larger plants ordinarily required.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is w 1. In an apparatus for protecting shores against erosion or for building jetties or the like, a bundle consisting of a band of heavy material with brush held thereby, the said band being adapted to hold and to sink the brush substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus for protecting shores against erosion or for building jetties or the like, a bundle of brush having the large ends stuck into a heavy band on opposite sides thereof, and interpenetrating, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for protecting shores against erosion or for building jetties or the like, the combination with a plurality of bundles of brush, each held together by a heavy band adapted to hold and sink the brush, of a rope or chain secured to each of the said bundles and attached to some fixed object, substantially as and .for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE S. WILKINSON.

Witnesses:

F. O. YEATES, PERCY O. BOWEN.

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