THE MORTIMER WOOD-PAVEMENT.
A NEW plan of wood-pavement has been patented by Mr. MORTIMER, very ingenious in its construction, and promising to be less expensive in the outset and more durable in wear than any kind hitherto laid down. We were invited to inspect some models of it at the office of the patentee, Frith Street, Soho ; and were struck by the ingenuity, simplicity, and so far as it could be tested in a model, the efficacy of the invention and the soundness of the principle. The blocks com- posing the pavement are so shaped that they form when placed toge- ther a self-supporting arch, of which the middle of the road is the crown, the curbstones being the abutments : each block dovetails into the other in such a manner that they support each other, so that a seg- ment of more than half of an arch in extent is sustained by its own equi- poise. The effect of this arrangement of the blocks is to distribute the pressure on one point equally over the whole of the arch ; the central block not being of the nature of a keystone, but rather a link in the chain of support. The blocks not being pinned together, single blocks, or several, might be easily slid out from a surface of pavement, without impairing the solidity of other portions.
The advantages enumerated are principally these: the archiform sur- face being perfect, because inherent in the conformation of the blocks, which is not the case with other pavement, it sustains itself, and re- sists any amount of pressure without the support of a substratum of concrete. The objections to the use of a bed of concrete are its ex- pense; the want of drainage through the subsoil, which causes the moisture to accumulate under the wood ; and the difficulty of breaking up and relaying the road for laying down pipes, opening sewers, &c. : these are all obviated by the archiform surface, to which a tolera- bly solid and even substratum of earth and shingle only is necessary. The Mortimer blocks are grooved to carry off the rain and afford a footing for cattle : and in the case of declivities' each block has a notch across its edge to afford points of resistance for the feet of horses either ascending or descending. The archiform principle of cohesion is also applicable to flat pavements for stables, court-yards, and outbuildings, and to flooring generally. The inventor calculates that a surface of three inches thick of wood must be worn away before the solidity of his pavement is impaired.
The only doubt we should have of the stability of the Mortimer wood- pavement arises from the probable effect of wet in swelling the blocks : but this, and the resisting power of the archiform surface, can only be tested by experiment : the invention is certainly deserving of a fair trial; though we do not think it entirely removes the principal objec- tion to wood-paving, its slipperiness, for the wear and tear of traffic would soon level the channeled surface.
Previous page
