US804437A

US804437A - System of tunneling.

Info

Publication number: US804437A
Application number: US26772705A
Authority: US
Inventors: James W See
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1905-06-30
Filing date: 1905-06-30
Publication date: 1905-11-14
Anticipated expiration: 1922-11-14

Description

PATEN'IBD NOV. 14., 3.905.

J. W. SEE.

SYSTEM 0F TUNNELING.

APPLICATION TILED JUNE so, 1905.

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PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.

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J. W. SEE. SYSTEM 0F TUNNELING.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE so, 1905.

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PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. SEE, OF HAMILTON, OHIO.

SYSTEM OF TUNNELING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1905.

Application led June 30,1905. Serial No. 267,727.

To all whom, t may concern:

Beit known that l, JAMES WV. SEE, a citizen of the United States, residing .at Hamilton, vButler county, Ohio, v(post-oiiiice address struction in cities and will be readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in whichl Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a system of tunneling exemplifying my invention; and Fig. 2, a plan, part horizontal section, of the same upon a reduced scale.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the pavement of a city street; 2, the sidewalk; 3, the main tunnel in process of construction; A, its roof; 5, its side walls; 6, the crown oi the main tunnel, comprising the entire roof portion between the tunnel-roof proper and the streetpavement; 7 a subtunnel disposed below the main tunnel; 8, a track in the subtunnel; 9, a branch from the subtunnel; 10, an upcut from the branch subtunnel to the main tunnel; 11, an elevator in the upcut; 1Q, a housing over the upcut; 13, a track in the subtunnel branch 9 leading from track 8 to the upcut; 14, a construction-car; 15, a track in the main tunnel leading from the upcut; 16, a track in the 4main tunnel leading from the neighborhood of the upcut to the heading of the main tunnel; 17, a turn-table at the j uncture of

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15 and 16; 18, a heading of the main tunnel; 19, intermediate columns in the main tunnel, and 2O an alternative line for the branch tunnel leading from the subtunnel to the upcut.

Tn carrying out this system of tunneling the subtunnel, with its track, is first constructed and equipped complete. It should lead to the spoil heap. The branch tunnel 9 is then to be driven, after which the upcut is carried up to a point sufficiently high above the intendedv floor-level of the main tunnel, the branch and the upcut being lined complete and equipped for service as a lateral and Vertical branch ot' the subtunnel, the housing 12 serving to guard the upcut. A drift from the upcut is then to be driven with its fioor at the level of the intended fioor of the main tunnel, this drift being transverse to the line of the main tunnel. The spoil from this transverse tunnel is to be disposed of through the subtunnel. The drift is to be carried full height of the main tunnel and either completed or temporarily lined, the former being preferable. The completed drift should extend the full Width of the main tunnel, and when done it represents a short section of the complete main tunnel, and it presents two headings from which the driving of the main tunnel may be carried on, track 16 being extended as the work at the heading progresses. Having served it-s purpose, housing 12 may be removed when the main tunnel is completed over the upcut. There may be additional branches and upcul's from the subtunnel to permit the main tunnel to be worked from quite a number oi' headings at once. The sizes of the branch subtunnel and the upcut should be such as to permit the proper passage outward of the spoil and the proper passage inward of the material of construction for the main tunnel. The branch subtunnel may be at right angles to the subtunnel, as at 9, or it may be a switch branch, as at 20. In the construction of the main tunnel the crown material of the street, together with all of its contained pipes, conduits, ac., should be properly supported temporarily until the tunnel-root` is constructed and provided with the overhead ramming to transfer the load of the street to the structural work ot the tunnel. A preferable construction for the main tunnel comprises wall beams, roofbeams, walls, and roof-arches, and with this form it is preferred that each panel of the main tunnel be completed in succession from the point of beginning at the upcut to points as close to the headings as is expedient. If the main tunneling should encounter pipes, sewers, or the like, which it must displace, substitutes for them may be built at the sides of the main tunnel or below, as indicated at 21.

It will be noted that the completed system involves the presence and cost ot' two tunnels instead of one, or, in other words, a subtunnel in addition to the main tunnel. This might at first thought appear to be an engineering absurdity; but under the conditions contemplated by the system a proper analysis causes the absurdity to disappear. Under ordinary circumstances a subway with a comparatively thin crown requires to be constructed by the cut-and-cover system, and this involves dealing with all of the pipes, conduits, Sac., finding their home immediately below the street-surface, and many of these matters must be so dealt with as to ICO IOS

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avoid the interruption of their service, calling often for a substitute construction, then a removal of the original construction, and then a replacing of it. Furthermore, the interruption to traliic, if permitted, is a serious annoyance, and if not permitted then the Work requires to be done in non-traiiic periods under very expensive conditions. All of these matters taken together, as incident to the construction of the subway, may exceed in cost that of a subway proper if itcould be driven from headings. In other Words, the incidental expense may exceed the main expense.

By the compound system herein provided for the traiiic upon the street is entirely undisturbed, and the work may be rapidly pushed day and night by Working from any desired number of headings in the main tunnel at one time. Furthermore, the subtunnel may upon the completion of the main tunnel continue to serve useful purposes for the passage of material Whose transportation through the main tunnel is not desired. For instance, the main tunnel may be devoted to passenger transportation and the subtunnel may be devoted to freightage.

I claim as my invention- The improved method of tunneling consisting in constructing a subtunnel below and continuous to the proposed main tunnel; constructing a branch from the suhtunnel; constructing an upcut leading from said branch to a point in or contiguous to the line of the proposed main tunnel; and constructing the main tunnel by the aid of said upcut, said branch, and said subtunnel.

JAMES WT. SEE.

W'itnesses:

SAM. D. FITTON, Jr., M. S. BELDEN.