A Contribution on the History of Ropeways

K. Hoffmann1 and Nenad Zrni2

1

Vienna University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Engineering Design and Logistic Engineering, A-1060 Wien, Getreidemarkt 9, Austria hoffmann@ikl.tuwien.ac.at 2 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department for Material Handling and Design Engineering, 11000 Belgrade, Kraljice Marije 16, Serbia nzrnic@mas.bg.ac.rs

Abstract. The history of ropeways is directly related to the development and manufacturing of ropes and cables. Therefore the invention of the steel cable in 1834 by Albert increased the speed of the further development of new ropeway systems. Initially the development was focused on ropeways for transportation of goods, later interest turned to ropeways for passenger transport. The first part of this contribution gives a brief overview of the historical development of rope-making, while the second part deals with the various steps of development of ropeway systems from the ancient times to the period between the two world wars.

Introduction

If we speak about the development of ropeways in the course of time it is necessary to report first on the manufacturing of ropes. The rope as an element to transmit movement and forces was probably known in prehistoric times. They were used mainly for hunting, carrying, lifting, and climbing purposes. Ropes were originally made by hand using organic material, such as fibres of date palms, flax, grass, papyrus, leather, hemp and others. In the course of thousands of years only a few improvements in manufacturing of ropes are recorded. It was mainly the invention of the steel cable by the German mining official Albert in 1834 that a period of vigorous development of production and application of ropes and cables began [1]. Considering this very important invention, it is obvious to divide up the history of ropes as well as the history of ropeways in the two periods: a) From prehistoric times up to 1834 (invention of Albert) b) After 1834

T. Koetsier, M. Ceccarelli (Eds.): Explorations in the His. of Machines & Mech., HMMS 15, pp. 381394. springerlink.com Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2012

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Ropes from Prehistoric Times up to 1834

Nothing is known about the beginning of rope making, but there seems to be evidences of ropes being made as far back as 20,000 BC. Figure 1 shows an individual a tailed man? - which is climbing along a rope. This picture was found in a cave in eastern Spain [2].

Fig. 1. Climbing man, cave art, eastern Spain [2]

A very early indication of taking advantage of the use of ropes comes from early Egyptian findings. Egyptian rope dates back to 4000 to 3500 B.C. and was generally made of water reed fibres. Other Egyptian ropes were made from the fibres of date palms, flax, grass, papyrus, leather, or camel hair. All these early ropes were twisted by hand or braided. A very interesting picture of early Egyptian rope making comes from the Tomb of Ti (see Fig. 2), which was built during the fifth dynasty of the Old Kingdom about 2400 B.C. [3]. The figure shows the twisting process requiring at least two workers standing at opposite ends of the cordage. One of the workers is imparting a twist on the strands by fastening short pieces of chord with weights attached, and the other is combining the strands by twisting them together in the opposite direction.

Fig. 2. Tomb of Ti, [3]

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Another example for early Egyptian rope making shows Fig. 3. Simple hand tools were used to improve the hand twisting process. In this method, a stick with a rock tied to it would be swung around, to assist in the twisting of the strand. This method, called a Spinner, worked well for producing shorter ropes.

Fig. 3. Ancient Egyptian artwork depicting tools for rope making [4]

The use of such ropes pulled by thousands of slaves allowed the Egyptians to move the heavy stones required to build the pyramids. During the early times not only in Egypt but also in Mesopotamia the use of ropes was well known. Figure 4 shows the use of ropes for the transportation of a heavy

Fig. 4. Transportation of a statue in Ninive [5]

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statue in combination with simple technical tools such as levers and rollers. This Figure is a copy of H.A. Layard from a relief found in Ninive [5]. In China ropes made of hemp (cannabis sativa) were in use as early as 8500 years ago. The knowledge of hemp rope making was spread along the Silk Road finally to Europe. In the Middle Ages and up to the 18th centuries all over Europe ropes were manufactured in so-called Ropewalks. In very long buildings strands of the full length of the rope were spread out and then twisted together. The cable length was thus set by the length of the available rope walk. This allowed for long ropes to be made up to 100 meters or even longer. With the increasing building activities in Renaissance times and the growing importance of European maritime trade the demand for ropes augmented. The guild of rope makers was a highly respected one at that time. In many cities the names of streets or districts refer to their trade; there is for instance the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, the Seilersttte in Vienna, or the Lijnbaansgracht in Amsterdam. A very interesting example of an extensive use of ropes is the transportation and erection of the obelisk in front of the St. Peters Cathedral in Rome in the year 1586, where Domenicus Fontana used more than 45 ropes with a diameter of approximately 80mm and a length of 220m to carry out this project. After successful erection of the obelisk Fontana described all technical details in a book [6]. Figure 5 shows a painting of this event.

Fig. 5. Erection of the obelisk in Rome in the year 1586 [2]

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During the course of the Industrial Revolution it became more and more necessary to improve the ropes to higher strength and increase the length of it. There was also a great need to develop more efficient means of transport. It was obvious to use steel for the manufacture of ropes. Only with the invention of the steel cable by the German mining official Albert in 1834 did a period of lively development of the various cable-drawn transport systems begin.

Ropeways before 1834

A ropeway is a system for the transportation of passengers or goods whereby the passengers or goods are conveyed in different types of cars. The runway is made of ropes (one or two) or rails and concrete carriageways respectively. The hauling function is carried out by means of one or more ropes. Speaking about aerial ropeways we have to distinguish between monocable aerial ropeways and bicable aerial ropeways. The difference is simply the number of rope systems. While with a monocable ropeway one or two ropes assume the carrying and hauling function (carry-hauling cable), with a bicable aerial ropeway the cars are carried by one or more ropes (track ropes) and moved by a further rope system (haul rope). The principle of a cable-drawn transport system was known even in ancient times. But there are only a few historic documents from these times. As early Chinese historical drawings demonstrate, this principle was already in use at that time for passenger and material transport. Figure 6 shows the earliest known picture of passenger transportation from 250 B.C., South China [1]. The use of cables in China was e.g. implemented in a water-lifting device called Gao zhuan tong che (chain conveyor water machine machine similar to sloping bucket elevator) [7].

Fig. 6. Brush drawing of a Chinese aerial ropeway dated 250 B.C. [1]

Centuries later in a Japanese historical epic the "Taiheiki", written in the late 14th century a ropeway was mentioned. This document relates how a Japanese emperor escaped via ropeway over a valley when he was surrounded by enemy forces.

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In the Middle Ages a sort of a monocable aerial ropeway was depicted in a book by Johannes Hartlieb (Austrian National Library, Vienna, Ref. Nr. 3069). It shows a basket being conveyed in a kind of a monocable ropeway to a fortified castle by a hand operated winch (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7. Drawing of a monocable aerial ropeway from A.D. 1411 [1]

Another sketch by Marianus Jacobus is showing a primitive bicable ropeway dated back to A.D. 1440 (Figure 8). A pitcher is being transported over a ravine driven by an ox (National Library, Paris).

Fig. 8. Drawing of a primitive bicable aerial ropeway from A.D. 1440 [8]

Fausto Veranzio of Venice was a scientist working at the court of the RomanGerman Emperor King Rudolf II in Prague. He collaborated with the famous astronomer Tycho de Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Veranzio illustrated a refined bicable passenger ropeway in the "Machinae novae", published in 1615 (Figure 9). It

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consisted of a wooden box in which the passengers rode, travelling on pulleys over a fixed rope. The vehicle was propelled over the river by the occupants pulling themselves along by means of this slack loop.

Fig. 9. Sketch of a bicable aerial ropeway by Fausto Veranzio [12]

At the start of the modern age, ropeways were also used for faster transport of goods and building materials to construction sites. The first efficiently working monocable ropeway was constructed by Adam Wybe, a Dutchman, who was a major contributor to the construction of Gdansk/Danzig (Polland). Figure 10 shows this ropeway from 1644 with securely fastened baskets which were used to transport material from the mountain to the city during the construction of fortifications of Gdask.

Fig. 10. Monocable aerial ropeway built by Adam Wybe in 1644 [9]

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From the middle of the 17th century until the invention of the steel cable in 1843, no really further progress was made. The technology had reached its maximum potential at the time, limited by the strength and length of available ropes. With these restrictions it is astonishing that in the year 1804 the most powerful funicular of this time was brought into operation by the Austrian engineer Joseph Gainschnigg. It was in Badgastein, Austria were this 1.4 km long funicular was used both for transportation of ore from the goldmine down and for transportation of the miners up to the entrance of the mine. The rope was made of hemp with a diameter of about 60 mm and driven by a water wheel with a diameter of 15 m. This funicular was in operation more than 60 years without a change. However, more than 200 years before the engineer Buonaiuto Lorini from Florence [10] designed a very similar funicular for transportation of building material up to a fortress (Figure 11).

Fig. 11. Sketch of a funicular by Buonaiuto Lorini [10]

All these ideas have changed rapidly with the introduction of the much stronger wire rope in the mid-nineteenth century. The invention of the steel cable by the German mining official Wilhelm August Julius Albert at Clausthal/Harz, Germany in 1834 led to the most successful period of all kinds of ropeways in history [11]. Albert produced for the first time two ropes with a length of 605 consisting of 3 strands, each of four wires with a diameter of 3.5mm. They were used as hauling ropes in the silver mine in Clausthal.

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Ropeways after 1834

During the course of the Industrial Revolution, not only the invention of the steel cable by the German mining official Albert in 1834 heralded a period of lively development of the various cable-drawn transport systems but also new power sources, first steam engines and later on electric motors. To speak about the development of the various types of cable-drawn systems which have evolved over the decades it is necessary to classify the more recent systems according to the type of track (carrier) used. Figure 12 gives an overview of the various systems, which are of course in use with very diverse frequency. The development of funiculars and aerial ropeways will subsequently be described in more details.

Fig. 12. Classification of ropeways [14]

Funiculars Initially, after the introduction of steel cable the development of cable-drawn systems was mainly focused on funicular railways. These are railways on which one ore more wagons run on the rail track, hauled by the hauling rope which is wound round a driving drum. Such funiculars used as slope lifts have long been in operation in industry. Beside the funicular of Badgastein described before it was reported that Stephenson in 1825 adopted a rope for transporting a steam engine up a slope of about 1:50 [8]. The next step of development was to adopt the funiculars for passenger transport. The first funicular for public transport was put into operation in Lyon in 1862. It was driven by a steam engine.

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On the occasion of the World Exhibition in 1873 a funicular of the same type was constructed at Leopoldsberg, Vienna (see Fig. 13). Unfortunately the funicular was demolished 3 years later because of financial reasons [13].

Fig. 13. Funicular at Leopoldsberg, Vienna [13]

It was A.S. Hallidie the mechanical genius born in London 1836 who made many patented inventions for suspension bridges and as his most important work he designed the world-famous Cable Car in San Francisco (Fig. 14). In 1871 he completed plans by which street cars could be propelled by underground cables and finally on 1st of September 1873 the cable car was successfully put into operation. The drive unit for the hauling cable was a steam engine in the powerhouse.

Fig. 14. Cable Car, San Francisco, 1873 [1]

The further development of funiculars during the 20th century can be divided into two groups. Both types have been developed parallel into a very high standard. These two types are:

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Reversible funiculars Continuous movement funiculars

Figure 15 shows the basic layout of a reversible funicular railway in shuttle operation. Two cars are linked together by a haul rope and this moves them along the route. The cars travel on tracks using steel rollers on rails. The drive unit for the system is housed usually in the upper station. Funiculars are normally designed as single-track systems. For this reason a passing point is provided in the middle of the route.

Fig. 15. Layout of a reversible funicular [14]

In contrast to shuttle operation, the continuous movement funiculars are working in circular operation, requiring two completely separate tracks. The cars are coupled to the haulage rope at specific distances by normal releasable clamping devices. Placement of stations along the line is possible without technical limits, according to local service requirements. This ropeway system is particularly suitable in urban areas as means of transportation for small and medium sized cities. It is also known as automated people mover, or APM system. However, the development of APM-systems began only in the late 1960s as the interest in environment friendly transport systems grew and is subject of a different study. Aerial Ropeways While initially after the invention of the steel cable development mainly was focused on funicular railways such as the Cable Car San Francisco, later interest turned to aerial ropeways. At the beginning aerial ropeways were mainly used for transportation of material and goods especially in the mining industry. As in Figure 12 is depicted, aerial ropeways are of two types of construction: monocable aerial ropeways bicable aerial ropeways

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In this connection two important inventors can be named: 1856 Englishman Robinson, patent for monocable aerial ropeway (English system) 1861 German Freiherr von Dcker, patent for bicable aerial ropeway (German system)

The patent of Robinson was used by Hodgson in 1867 to built successfully ropeways for the mining industry in England between 1869 and 1880. On the other hand Freiherr von Dcker installed in 1872 a continuously circulating bicable ropeway for the construction of a fort at Metz, France. The carriages were equipped with screw type coupling grips, patented by an Austrian engineer Theobald Obach [8]. At the same time the German engineers Bleichert and Otto established a firm to construct ropeways. They were very successful, since this company put more than 5000 ropeways into operation throughout the world. The first one was set into operation in 1873 in Teutschenthal, Germany (see Fig. 16).

Fig. 16. Bicable Ropeway for transport of coal in Teutschenthal, Germany constructed by Bleichert in 1873 [8]

Aerial ropeways for passenger transport came into operation shortly before 1900. The very first aerial ropeway exclusively designed for passenger transport was constructed by Ritter in 1866 in Schaffhausen, Suisse. It had four track ropes and a 2-person cabin used only for the inspection of turbines in a small water power plant on the Rhine. The hauling rope was driven by a hand winch. Some years later in Blackpool/New Zealand a 6-persons aerial ropeway driven by a steam engine was put into operation across a river (operating only until 1890). A fine example of a historic passenger ropeway is the reversible aerial ropeway in San Sebastian, Spain opened 1907 (see Fig. 17). An open carriage is running with 12 pulleys over 6 track ropes. A similar ropeway provided with a cabin for 46 persons was put into service in 1916 near the Niagara Falls. After several upgrades in design and function this ropeway is still in use [15].

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Fig. 17. Reversible aerial ropeway in San Sebastian, Spain, 1907 [1]

The first ropeway of the alpine mountains was built in Gindelwald, Switzerland in the year 1908, the Wetterhorn Bahn. The track consisting of two track ropes had a maximum gradient of 200%. A single cabin carried 16 people. The ropeway was only in service until 1914, the beginning of the First World War. The world's oldest twin-cable ropeway which is still functioning is the Predigtstuhlbahn in Bad Reichenhall, Germany, which was built in 1928 by the well know company Bleichert [16].

Fig. 18. Predigtstuhlbahn in Bad Reichenhall, Germany, the world oldest ropeway still in service

Due to the rapid development of the touristic industry also the first applications of ski lifts and chairlifts came in use. This evolution was suddenly interrupted by the beginning of the Second World War.

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Conclusion

The earliest application of ropes for transportation of goods or passengers dates back to ancient times. The history of ropeways can be divided into two periods, i.e. the time before the invention of steel ropes 1834 and the time after it. From the period before 1834 only a few applications are documented. The invention of the steel cable initiated a rapid development of ropeway systems over the decades, which is further accelerated and diversified by the change from steam engines to electric motors. At present the main demands for further development of ropeways are higher capacity, energy saving, noise reduction and sustainability.

References
[1] Schmoll, H.D.: Weltseilbahngeschichte, Band 1 und 2. Steidl Verlag, Eugendorf (2000) [2] Weber, W.: Kurze Geschichte der Seilerei. Lenzburg, Suisse (2001) [3] Quibell, J.E.: The Ramesseum and the Tomb of Ptah-Hetep. Egyptian Research Account 2, London (1896) [4] Turner, J.C., Van de Griend, P.: History of Science of Knots. World Scientific Pub. Co., Singapore (1996) [5] Buchheim, G., Sonnemann, R.: Geschichte der Technikwissen-schaften. Birkhuser Verlag (1990) [6] Fontana, D.: Della Trasportatione dell Obelisco Vaticano. Appresso Domenico Basa, Rome (1590) [7] Guan, X.-W.: An Interpretation of a Shui Lun Fu (Rhapsody on Waterwheel). In: Yan, H.-S., Ceccarelli, M. (eds.) International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms, pp. 215224. Springer, Heidelberg (2009) [8] Schneigert, Z.: Aerial Ropeways and Funicular Railways. Pergamon Press, Oxford (1966) [9] Stephan, P.: Die Luftseilbahnen. Verlag Julius Springer, Leipzig (1907) [10] Lorini, B.: Fnf Bcher von Festung Bauen, David Beckern, Frankfurt am Main (1607) [11] Beck, T.: Beitrge zur Geschichte des Maschinenbaues. Springer, Berlin (1899) [12] Dieterich, G.: Die Erfindung der Drahtseilbahnen. Verlag Hermann (1908) [13] Hefti, W.: Schienenseilbahnen in aller Welt. Birkhuser Verlag, Basel (1975) [14] Hoffmann, K.: Recent Developments in Cable-drawn Urban Transport Systems. In: Proceedings of the XVIII International Conference on Material Handling, Constructions and Logistics, Belgrade, Serbia (2006) [15] http://www.niagaraparks.com/attractions/whirlpool-aerocar.html [16] http://www.predigtstuhlbahn.de