Do you know? In fact, the demand for vertical transportation of the lifting platform is as long as the human civilization. The earliest lifting platform used manpower, animal power and hydraulic power to lift weight. The lifting device has been relying on these basic power methods until the industrial revolution.
In ancient Greece, Archimedes developed an improved lifting device operated with ropes and pulleys. It used winches and levers to wrap the lifting rope around the bobbin.
In 80 AD, gladiators and wild animals reached the height of the arena in the Roman Coliseum on the original lifting platform.
Medieval records include countless people who lifted the lifting device and patterns for supplying isolated locations. The most famous of these is the lifting platform of the Monastery of St. Baram in Greece. The monastery is located on the top of a mountain about 61 meters above the ground. The hoist uses baskets or cargo nets to transport people and goods up and down.
In 1203, the lifting platform of a monastery located on the French coast was installed using a huge tread wheel. The donkey provided the lifting power. By winding the rope on a huge column, the weight was lifted.
In the 18th century, mechanical force began to be used for the development of lifting platforms. In 1743, French Louis XV authorized the installation of a lifting platform for the use of counterweights in a private palace in Versailles.
In 1833, a system using a reciprocating rod lifted miners in the Harz Mountains region of Germany.
In 1835, a belt-driven lifting platform called a “winch” was installed at a factory in the United Kingdom.
In 1846, the first industrial hydraulic lifting platform appeared. Then other powered lifting devices followed quickly.
In 1854, the American mechanic Otis invented a ratchet mechanism and displayed a safe lifting platform at the New York Trade Fair.
In 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was built, a steam-powered lifting platform was installed, and then the elevator was used.
In 1892, the lifting equipment of Chile ’s Astillero was built. Until now, 15 lifting platforms still use the mechanical equipment more than 110 years ago.
Currently, the “Gotthard Tunnel” under construction in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, is an underground railway tunnel from the Alps ski resort to other European countries. It is 57 kilometers in length and was opened to traffic in 2016. At the “Alps” high-speed train station about 800 meters above the ground, a lifting platform will be built directly to the ground. When completed, it will be the longest lifting platform in the world. After reaching the ground through the lifting platform, passengers can take the Alpine Glacier Sightseeing Express Train and reach the mountain resort in two hours.
