Lifting and shoring jack assembly

A lifting and shoring jack assembly comprising:

• baseplate means, said baseplate means being capable of distributing load forces over a sufficiently large surface area to substantially prevent said jack assembly from sinking into soft earth when subjected to a load;
• support column means removably disposed on said baseplate means;
• jack screw means slidably disposed within said support column means and at least partially extending from an upper end thereof;
• jack nut means operatively engaged with said screw means, and bearing on an upper end surface of said support column means;
• load plate means disposed on a free end of said screw means and capable of load bearing engagement with a load to be supported;
• and
• at least two side brace means pivotally connected to said column means at a point located between said baseplate means and said jack screw means, each of said side brace means comprising:
• a respective elongate brace arm pivotally connected at an end thereof to said support column means;
• respective length adjusting means disposed at a free end of each of said brace arms for adjusting the length of each of said brace arms;
• and
• respective load engaging means pivotally disposed on said respective adjusting means to facilitate load bearing engagement between the load to be supported and each of said side brace means.