A Contribution on the History of Ropeways

K. Hoffmann1 and Nenad Zrnić2

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 de-
velopment 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.

1 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 move-
ment 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 Ropes were originally made by hand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 min-
ing 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. 381–394.
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382 K. Hoffmann and N. Zrnić

2 Ropes from Prehistoric Times up to 1834

Nothing is known about the beginning of rope making, but there seems to be evi-
dences 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]

 A Contribution on the History of Ropeways 383

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]

384 K. Hoffmann and N. Zrnić

statue in combination with simple technical tools such as levers and rollers. This Fig-
ure 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 manu-
factured 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 im-
portance 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 Ham-
burg, the Seilerstätte 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 paint-
ing of this event.

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

 A Contribution on the History of Ropeways 385

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 Ger-
man mining official Albert in 1834 did a period of lively development of the various
cable-drawn transport systems begin.

3 Ropeways before 1834

A ropeway is a system for the transportation of passengers or goods whereby the pas-
sengers 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 his-
torical drawings demonstrate, this principle was already in use at that time for passen-
ger 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.
386 K. Hoffmann and N. Zrnić

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 Roman-
German Emperor King Rudolf II in Prague. He collaborated with the famous as-
tronomer Tycho de Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Veranzio illustrated a refined bicable
passenger ropeway in the "Machinae novae", published in 1615 (Figure 9). It
 A Contribution on the History of Ropeways 387

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 them-
selves 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
Gdańsk.

Fig. 10. Monocable aerial ropeway built by Adam Wybe in 1644 [9]
388 K. Hoffmann and N. Zrnić

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 poten-
tial at the time, limited by the strength and length of available ropes. With these re-
strictions 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 transporta-
tion 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.
 A Contribution on the History of Ropeways 389

4 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 sys-
tems 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 devel-
opment 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 driv-
ing 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.
390 K. Hoffmann and N. Zrnić

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 de-
signed 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:
 A Contribution on the History of Ropeways 391

° 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. Place-
ment 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 auto-
mated 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 transporta-
tion of material and goods especially in the mining industry. As in Figure 12 is de-
picted, aerial ropeways are of two types of construction:
° monocable aerial ropeways
° bicable aerial ropeways
392 K. Hoffmann and N. Zrnić

In this connection two important inventors can be named:

° 1856 Englishman Robinson, patent for monocable aerial ropeway (English
system)
° 1861 German Freiherr von Dücker, 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 Frei-
herr von Dücker 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 rope-
ways. 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 Blei-
chert 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].
 A Contribution on the History of Ropeways 393

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 Pre-
digtstuhlbahn 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.
394 K. Hoffmann and N. Zrnić

5 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.

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