US829190A - Method of constructing subaqueous tunnels. - Google Patents

Description

. PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906.

J. WILGUS & A. CARSON.

METHOD OF OONSTRUOTING' SUBAQUEOUS TUNNELS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10. 1906.

' '3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

f/rwenl bmj William J WI-1 M, Howard H; C0; 160m;

Attem- PATENTED AUG. 21, 1996.

' W. J. WILGUS & H. A. CARSON.

METHOD OF .-APPL10AT10N FILED FEB.10. 1900.

GO'NSTR'UGTING SUBAQUEOUS TUNNELS.

a SHEETS-SHBET 2.

Mew

No. 829,190. PATEN'TED AUG. 21, 1906.

. W. J. WILGUS & H. A. CARSON. METHOD OF GONSTRUGTING 'SUBAQUEOUS TUNNELS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10. 190B.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFIon WILLIAM J. WI GUs', or NEW YORK, N.Y., AND HOWARD A; mason. or MALDEN. MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING SUBAQUEOUS TUNNELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21, 1906.

Application filed February 10, 1906- Serial No. 300,494.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, VVI'L IAM J. WILGUS, of the city, county, and State of New. York,

and HOWARD A. CARSON, of the city of Malden, county of Middlesex, and Common wealth of Massachusetts, citizens of the United States, have invented new and useful Improvements in Methods of Constructing subaqueous Tunnels, of which the,following is a full, clear, and exact description.

During the past thirty-five years therehave been schemes proposed for constructing subaqueous tunnels by placing at the bottom of the water both inner and outer molds and depositing between the same and entirely around theinner one cement concrete, which when set or hardened is to constitute the tunnel-walls desired. This proposed method we deem impracticable, for, as we have learned by experience, concretedeposited under and in contact with water usually results in a far poorer product than when made and allowed to set in air. It usually also has numerous voids and cannot prudently be relied upon to prevent too-rapid percolation of water through it. There have also been proposed various schemes for sinking tubes of metal or other material, which when joined together at the bottom of the water unite to form a subaqueous tunnel; but processes hitherto roposed of'connecting such tubes with su cient accuracy and wator-tightness as to be suitable for passengertunnels are difiicult and uncertain.

foundation along the water-bottom, the-wa- The object of our invention is to furnish a.

process of laying subaqueous tunnels by which the objections above referred'to and others will be obviated.

, The process,-broadly stated, is as follows? Having located an outer shell, which may be only imperfectly water-tight, upon a suitable teris expelled by pumping or air-pressure,-or both,.'firom the whole or a suitableportion of said shell, Water being prevented the use of compressed air, if necessary, from Heritabmg the same. Concrete or other sultalile material is then carried within ,iisaid outer shell and formed into walls which are to comp fiet tu el P ope .1 th Wa i at; e exc u ed ra o ab t o o -the= outer shell, successive parts will be cleared of Y Y in Fig; 1.

, be tolerably the" prepared bed 1-1..

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side sectional elevation of a subaqueous tunnel made in accordance with our process. Fig.2 is a cross-section of thesame on the line X X in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 .is a cross-section on theline the line Z Z in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a subaqueous tunnel made in a slightly different manner. Fig. 6 is a crosssection of theouter shell, showing means for its adjustment whenbeing located in position. None of these figures are drawn strictly to scale, but instead are diagrammatic in character.

In the drawings, 10 designates the bottom of the water in which the tunnel is to be laid. 11 is a channel or trench dredged out for the tunnels reception, and 1 is the outer shell. The first step in the process is the preparation of a suitable bed in the bottom of the water where the tunnel isto be built. This may in some cases require filling,in others,

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on dredging. The latter case is assumed for on a suitable bed and adjusted to pro er podesignates the wedges for the adjustments in profile and 21 in plan, or they may be bents of piles with timber or concrete upper surfaces, the same being so made and placed that the shells or fmoldswhe'n supported thereon will true to line and grade. 1 .The next step in the operation is to sink through the water the outer shell, mold, orform 1, of

.sition by wedges, as shown in Fig. 6, .w ere 20 9o metal, wood, or other suitable material, suples 2 a short distance from the bottom of being described. hereinafter. Concrete 01'' orting and securingthe same upon the sad- Y If this shell is laid in SGQfiDIlIS,- ;SU .Ql1.*SGCtiQIIS mustv be piioperly. united-together. ithe, method of; Suchziunion:

other suitable material is then introduced between the under surface of said shell and the bed beneath to form a' foundation 3 for the tunnel-walls, as shown in Fig. 3. In most cases the outer shell will be entirely surrounded by filling 6, of concrete, riprap, gravel, clay, or other material, depending upon the expense that can be afforded, the strength and Weight of the shell, and other circumstances.

In general, depending on the length of the subaqueous tunnel to be formed, the shell ormold will be lowered through the water in sections of convenient length for handling, usually from fifty to five hundred feet. These sections are after being laid in the saddles 2, as already described, to be securely joined together end to end and the joints between them made as water-tight as is reasonablypracticable. If compressed air is to be used later to prevent the entrance of water, the joints may be made in-a simpler and less water-tight way than would otherwise be permissible. For instance, the joints may be wrapped, by the aid of divers, with stout canvas lapping onto two contiguous ends of shells and tightly held by wires or tourniquets, as at 7 in Fig 1. This canvas will be covered by the outer filling of concrete or other material 6, previously referred to, or by a limited covering 7 of grout or concrete.

In some cases we prefer to make the joints between contiguous sections in the manner shown in Fig. 5. Here the sectional shells 1 have bulkheads 8 at each end, and the contiguous sections are placed in the water a short distance apart. The spaces between thecontiguous bulkheads 8 and the spaces around the outer ends of the sections are filled with grout S" ora-specially-prepared rich concrete which will be substantially water-tight when set or crystallized. Said bulkheads 8 should be made tight enough to prevent the leakage of cement grout through them, and they. should also be strong enough towithstand the head of grout and preferably strong enough to resist'the full head of water. Two contiguous bulkheads 8, with the special concrete 8" between them, can be so dimensioned as to form to gether a bulkhead of any required strength.

If such composite bulkheads 8 8' are not employed, we prefer to have bulkheads 8, placed in the outershell at convenient distances apart, and these will ordinarily be built'into the shells before the are lowered.

tightasis readily practicable, and they are to be strong enough and thoroughly enough attachedto. the mold or. outer shell to act as a dam with a head of water due to their depth below the upperfsurfaceof the surrounding stares water when the shell in its position. In making these bulkheads 8 due attention is to be given to the fact. that they are temporary; The bulkheads will divide the shellsections into a series of cells or chambers, one or more bulkheads to each section. For convenience in description these chambers will be referred to as chamber A, chamber B, chamber C, &c., in the order in which subsequent operations of pumping and building the tunnel-walls proper are to be carried on. Two pipes 9, with stop cocks or plugs in each,

should preferably be built into and through each bulkhead 8, one pipe near the top and the other near the bottom, to be used as later described.

When a convenient length of tie outer shell-sections constituting several chambers has been completed and the outer shell, if it has been constructed of concrete, as we sometimes prefer to have it, has become sufficiently strong, the water may be punt ed from the most convenient chamber, ca led chamberA, usually at or near the shore, and further leakage into said chamber may be prevented by the use of compressed air.

. The work of constructing the tunnel proper may now be begun, the first step of which may be lining the interior surface of the outer shell with some waterproof materialsuch as fine cement, pitch, or asphaltin order to insure the waterproof character of the tunnel when completed- This lining is designated by the reference-numeral 4 in Figs. 3 and 4.v

The shell may, however, be so tight that no further Waterproofing will be necessary. The step is to form the tunnel walls proper, 5, in contact with said lining, employing any suitable sup orting means for the concrete or other suitab e material composing the ceiling or roof of the tunnel and any suitable coremold for the entire inner surface of the con crete, such sup orting means or core-mold being too well known in the art to require illustration in the drawings.

When the true tunnel-walls 5, including ceiling and.invert, have been completed in chamber A, the water in the adjoining chamber B may be drawn through the intervening bulkhead 8 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) by means ofthe lower of said pipes 9 into the chamber A and from there ejected. by suitable means, at the same time air being'let into chamber B through. the upper'of the pipes 9. This air will beof normal pressure, if that will suffice, but may be compressed, if necessary, to insure against leakage. I Whensub- Stantially all the water has been removed lIO from the chambers A and -B the bulkhead be-..

tween them may be removed and the waterproofing and the true tunnel-walls madetiin tunnel-walls, the process is e ss'zaied and B are in progress, as above described, the

. various tasks of dredging, sinking outer shellsections, and placing foundations under and material around the shell-sections may be in progress, so as to form additional chambers,

in the line of the tunnel.

The various steps in our process more or less complete in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, where Fig. 2 illustrates the outer shell or mold 1 as supported upon'the saddles 2 and with the water both within and Without it. Fig. 3 shows the foundation 3 completed beneath the shell with the water removed and the waterproof lining 4 partially applied, and 4 shows the true tunnel-walls 5 com pleted and the protecting material 6 applied.

The foundation 3 may be composed not only of concrete, as described, but of broken stone, sand, or other suitable material in lieu thereof. While it is preferable also to construct said foundation after the outer shell has been placed in position in order that the contact between the same may be more inti-, mate and perfect, the foundation may be laid first and the shell then located thereon, or the foundation may be partially formed and completed after the shell is placed thereon. Which particular arrangement is to be adopted depends much upon the character of the ground beneath. If too unstable or soft, piles may first be driven and the foundation laid there; on rior to the sinking of the shell-sections, whi e if the ground is firm the first-described method is more desirable.

Although-we have described our process applicable in' the construction of concrete ually valuable is to be used not:

where brick or other materia therefor.

We illustrate but a sin le line of tunnel; but it is evident that a dou le or other multiple line may be made by the same process, and sidewise communication between any two adjacent lines may be likewise made.

It is manifestly a difiicult operation to build beneath the water a line of foundations exactly true as to grade and plan or even to locate a series of saddles 2 with precise accuracy. If the shell-sections are of substantial size, they may vary one with respect to its neighbors both in profile and in plan, as representedin Fig. 1. Inasmuch as the irregularly-contacting section terminals can be made suificientlywater-tight by the rocesses herein set forth and the cement wa s can be made to conform to the irregular inner sur faces of the shell-sections, while entirely. true as to interior surface proper, all such imperfection of foundation or saddles is of no moment in our process of constructing subaqueous tunnels.

are shown What we claim as our invention, and for which we desire Letters latent, is as follows, to Wit:

1'. The'herein described method of constructing subaqueous tunnels, the same con sisting in locating an outer shell or mold at the bottom of the water on asuitable founda tion; making the same substantially watertight; removing the water therefrom, and finally forming the tunnel-walls proper with in said shell or mold.

2. The herein-described method of constructing subaqueous tunnels, the same consisting in locating an outer shell or mold on a suitable foundation at the water-bottom, removing the water therefrom and preventing its return by the aid of compressed air, and then forming the tunnel-wal1s proper within said shell or mold.

3. The herein-described method of constructing subaqueous tunnels, the same consisting in locating an outer shell or mold on a suitable foundation at the water-bottom rcmoving the Water therefrom and preven ig its return by the aid of compressed then rendering the interior surface 1d shell or mold waterproof, and finally ining the tunnel-walls proper within said shell in contact with said waterproof surface.

4. The herein-described method of constructing subaqueous tunnels, the same cons'isting in locating an outer shell or mold on a suitable foundation at the water-bottom; removing the water therefrom and preventing its return by the aid of compressed air; and finally forming of concrete the tunnel-walls proper within said shell.

5. The herein-described method of constructing subaqueous tunnels, the same consisting in locating an outer shell or mold on a suitable foundation at the water-bottom;

tight; removing the water therefrom and preventing its return by the aid of compressed air; coating the inner surface of said shell with a waterproofing material; and, finally, forming the tunnel-walls proper of concrete in contact with said coating.

6. The herein-described method of constructing subaqueous tunnels, the same consisting in first locating an outer shell or mold on suitable supports at the water-bottom but allowing a space between said bottom. and under surface of said shell or mold; filling said s ace with foundation material; removing t ewater from said shell or mold and prevent ing its return by the aid of compressed air; and then forming the tunnel Walls proper within said shell or mold.

7 The herein-described method of consisting in locating a series of outer shell-sections on suitable foundations at the waterbottom; temporarily preventing the passage 1 of water from one to another of said sections 5 making said. shell or mold more or less Waterstructing subaqueous tunnels, the same conremoving the Water-from successive sections '10. The herein :describechmethod of conand preventing its return by the aid of com gstructing sn'baqu'eons tunnels; the-same conpressed air; and then forming the tunnelsisting in first locatingaseries ofsaddles walls 'roper in the successive sectloris.

8. he herein-described method of construeting subaqueous tunnels, the same con-. sisting in first loc'atin an outershell orgno'ld on suitable slightly-e 'evated supports at the water-bottom; constructing a foundation be tween said shell and Witter-bottom; removing the water from said shell; coatin the ins terior; offsaidshell with a'waterproe g material, and then forming of concrete the tunnel-walls proper within said shell. I

9. The herein-described method of constructing subequeous tunnels, the same con-- sisting in first locatinga. series of saddlesalong the water-bottom in the line of the proposed tunnel; placing a series of longitudin-al sections of outer shells on said saddles;

making the joints between adjacent ends of the sections substantially Witteftight by Wrapping flexible material thereabout, and covering with concrete or grout; surrounding the shells with Fdundation and filling met- I the Water fxzom said outer shells and, final y, forming the'tunnel wallsw terial removin pro-per Within said shells.

the sections substantially water 4 tight wrapping fiexible'niaterial thereabont and 'ing theshells foundation I .terial; removing the water from id nel-walls proper within said shells d'ay of February, 1906, respective along the Water-bottom in the lineof the proposed" tunnel; placing a series of longitudi-h rial-sections of outer shells on sai -dsaddles; 5 making the joints between adjacent endsof covering with concrete-or grout sur shells and reyenting its return byfthe aid 0 compresse zeir"; and finally formgn Intestnnony that weclaim-{t invention we jhave hereunto set our-' hamifll fl this 8th day of February,- -1906 ,andjthe fitli" WILLIAM J. WIIZGUS. "HOWARD- A. GAR'SQN. Witnesses for Wilgus I HENRY A. STAHL, H. H. WALDRON.

Witnesses for @arson: A. B. UPHAM. I ARTHIHQgB. CAn'rEn.

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