US819361A - Tunnel-roof shield. - Google Patents

Description

y PATENTBD MAY' 1, 1906.

J. o.. MEEM. TUNNEL R001" SHIELD.

Witnesses:

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PATENTED MAY-1, 1906.7

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UNITED sTATns PATENT onnicn.

, JAMES C. MEEM, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORILASSIGNOR OF. ONE-HALF BOROUGHA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF. BROOKLYN, NEW; YORK, A

V,part of this TUNNEL-ROOF jSHlELD.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedlVIay 1.,- 1906 i Application filed October 11, 1905. `Seriallilo.,282,299-v v l llo all whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that, I, JAMES C. MEEM, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, iii the countyk of Kings and -,State of. New. York, have invented a new and useful Tunnel-Roof Shield, of which thefollowing is a specifica--.

tion..

This inventionrelates to tunnel-roof shields,-

and constitutes an improvement upon one of similar character for which I obtained Letters Patentof. the United States December 9 1 902, e

The objects of the inventionare to obviate unnecessary dredging, to accelerate they procedurei of settling or positioning the shield,

and to improve its construction..

With the above and other. objects in view,

as Willappeanas thenature of the invention is better understood ,the same consistsv in the novel constructionand combination ofl parts of a tunnel-roofshield, as will be hereinafter fully described andv claimed..

In the accompanying drawings, forming a specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding arts, Figure 1 isa viewi, in end elevation exhi iting theshield of the present invention positioned relatively to a tunnel. Fig. 2 isa vertical longitudinalsectional view through the shield and tunnel. Fig. 3 is a .perspective detail view of aportion of one of the shields. Fig. Agis a view `in elevation show-` j ing themanner in which `a shield that is to be positioned is connected with one that vis already in position.

The shield, whichmay be made of any desired length and on any desired arc either of a circle or of a conic-section, comprises arch members y1, which will preferably be ofwood and spiked or otherwise suitably secured together, upper and lower chord- stiffeners 2 and 3, and uprights 4, that bear at their respective ends against the opposedfaces of the chord-stiffeners. The parts above named are held assembled and gbound yfirmly' ,together by rods or eye-bars 5, that pass over the arch as bands and underneath as tensionchord members 6 and are retained under suitable tension by turnbuckles 7, or there may be bands passed over the shield as short detached straps spiked or bolted to the arch, or there may be chord tension members attached to the lower edges of the shield by bolts or rivets or in any othery preferred manner, Where they are retained under tension by turnbuckles, as in the illustration. These sion-chord. members f `.parts named, and as usual, there may be em: yployed segmental ribs Aor compression meme-...-

Fig. 1, or the shield may vedges 13., as shown at the leftof Fig'. 1.,. i;

As stated,.it is one of theobjects offthezin-.-

maybe carried by draft-,bars 8,theterminals, of which are formed yinto .eyes,9.to engage. similar eyes,10 on the terminalsof. theten..

In :addition to ithe V,6.o

bers 11, constructed, preferably-'fof 4.steeltv .beams spaced apart at suitable intervals aIld., 'interposed between the archmembersl and.,6.5

uppervchord-stiffeners 2... Againstthe inner.,.v

. faces of the terminals of the ,compression mem-a bers bear.socket.plates 12', inewhichithe. ends of thechord-stiii'eners `3.are seated, lf pre-.il

. ferred,.the lower .edges ofthe,shieldrnayter I7o yminate in thesame planeas the,.,tensione ;y chord members-6, as shownat the. rightof be extended ibelowf., .y the tension-chord.membersito form ,cutting vention to obviate unnecessary dredging andy. to facilitate the settling or positioning of the, shield. vThis is effected by combiningwith .the shieldat spaced intervals anda.adjacer-it,8,04

to its edges. a series ofpipes 14, gproyidediat l their. upper .ends with couplings 15, v.with 5,

which may connectv pipes 16, leading. to a source of water .underpressure or to a suitev .Y able force-pump, the .objectbeingito drive85 .water underv high pressurethrough thepipes- 14 adjacent to the edgesof theI shield, thus, to effect washing away of the river-.bottom and to facilitate the settlingof the shield.

These shields are intended to be sub- 9.o merged on the bottom of a river or harborHV and the excavation to be carried on under' neath, the roof of the shield serving to hold any compressed air or keep o ut ,the waten It is contemplated that .theshield shallbe sunk onto a natural bottom or to a bottom which at first vhas ybeen dred ed to a sufi-L. cient depth to allow it to be fu ly or partially covered by the natural bottom when the lat-` ter `has been restoredto its original .level.1,oo Any .projection of the roof ,whichmay be above this level it is intended to cover by a f mixture of clay to renderthe roof as far as possible air and water tight. A heavy canvas or other cover may be laced over the I o5 joints, if desired, and over this in turn may be placed a blanket of clay as described elsewhere.

To illustrate a procedure under which the shield of this invention is employed, one 1ro method is herein outlined. A portion of the bottom of the river or harbor may be iirst dredgedA to a suitable depth, after which the l roof or shield which has been constructed and iloated to position over the dredged bottom is sunk, it being i'irst properly weighted to cause it to be submergedrby its own weight. As soon as it has corne to a position on the bottom which is reasonably near its intended permanent location the pipes 14 are connected with powerful pumps on a oat in the vicinity, and water is then forced down these pipes under such heavy pressure that the ground under the edges of the shield is forced away allowing it to sink into the mud. As the shield sinks to its position a covering of earth is thrown over it to settle itin position and to render it impervious to the compressed air which may be used in the subsequent tunneling operations. As soon as the rear end of one section of a shield is in place another is brought out and sunk to position and attached to the forward end of the last section by ropes 17, of which there ma be any preferred number employed. T ese ropes are passed through oriiices in angleplates or cleats 18, secured near the terminals of the shields, the terminals of the ropes being held against movement relatively to the cleats or angle-plates on the shield that is ositioned. As the forward end of the shield is jolted down to position the ropes may be pulled taut by divers or from above, and as soon as the abutting sections are in place a cover or mattress of canvas will be thrown over the joint and a cover of clay may be dumped over the whole. The rear end of the last section and the forward end of the preceding section may then be washed down by water through the pipes, it being understood that the to fastening may act as a hinge and the lower astenings may contain pulleys or Wheels, by means of which the lower jaws of the abutting ends may be pulled tight as the forward end is washed down. This rocedure, however, may be varied by sin ring the entire length of the shield at one time by providing a suiiicient number of pumps, so that the entire length may be washed to position at one operation, or it may still be further varied, so that one section at a time may be washed down to position before a subsequent section is attached. It is also intended that one pump shall operate several of the pipes at one time, or valves may be so Varranged that one or moreof the pipes may be operated to the exclusion of all the rest. In the event that a boulder be in the vicinity of one of the pipes and the ground adjacent thereto be soft it will be more necessary to bring the heaviest water-pressure to bear upon that one in the vicinity of the boulder to cause it to slip to one side or the other, and thus permit the tunnel-shields to settle into place. With the roof-shield in position and a covering of impervious material over it it will then be an easy matter to sink a shaft at either end of the shields and introduce compressed air and laborers for the excavation and operation of the tunnel, which may then be built by ordinary methods.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A tunnel-roof shield having means combined therewith for introducing Water under pressure beneath its edges, and means for assembling it with an adjacent shield.

2. A tunnel-roof shield having a waterconveying pipe disposed at intervals along two of its edges and provided with means for attachment to a water-supply, and means for assembling it with an adjacent shield.

3. A tunnel-roof shield having arch menibers, upper and lower chord-stiffeners, uprights that bear at their respective ends against the opposed ends of the chord-stiffeners, means for holding the parts assembled, means for introducing water beneath the edges of the shield, and means for combining it with an adjacent shield.

4. A tunnel-shield having cutting edges, water-conveying pipes projecting throu h the edges, and means for assembling a shie d that is being submerged with one that is already submerged.

5. A tunnel-shield having cutting edges, water-conveying pipes projecting through the edges, and orificed cleats arranged adjacent to the ends of the shield and adapted to be engaged by ropes or chains to assemble a shield that is being submerged with one that is already submerged.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I -have hereto aiiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES C. MEEM,

IOO

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