A Brief History Of Telescopic Platforms

The demand for vertical transportation is as old as human civilization. The earliest telescopic platform used human, animal and hydraulic power to lift weight. Lifting devices have relied on these basic power modes until the industrial revolution.

In ancient Greece, Archimedes developed an improved lifting device operated with ropes and pulleys, which used winches and levers to wind the lifting ropes on the winding column.

In 80 AD, gladiators and wild animals took the primitive telescopic platform to reach the height of the arena in the Roman Coliseum.

The records of the Middle Ages include countless people who lifted the lifting device and patterns that provided supplies to isolated locations. The most famous of these is the telescopic platform of St. Baram Monastery 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 telescopic platform of a monastery on the coast of France was installed using a huge treadmill. The lifting power is provided by the donkey, and the weight is lifted by winding the rope around a huge pillar.

In the 18th century, mechanical force began to be used in the development of telescopic platforms. In 1743, French Louis XV authorized the installation of personnel telescopic platforms using counterweights in the private palace of Versailles.

In 1833, a system using reciprocating rods lifted miners in the Harz Mountains region of Germany.

In 1835, a belt-drawn telescopic platform called a "winch machine" was installed in a British factory.

In 1846, the first industrial hydraulic telescopic platform appeared. Then other powered lifting devices appeared soon after.

In 1854, the American mechanic Otis invented a ratchet mechanism and demonstrated the safe telescopic platform at the New York Trade Fair.　

In 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was built, a steam-powered lifting platform telescopic platform was installed, and later an elevator was used.

In 1892, the lifting equipment of Mount Astilero in Chile was completed. Until now, 15 telescopic platforms still use machinery and equipment from more than 110 years ago.

At present, the "Gotthard Tunnel" under construction in Graubünden, Switzerland is an underground railway tunnel from Alpine ski resorts to other European countries. It is 57 kilometers long and is expected to be opened to traffic in 2016. At the "Alps" high-speed train station about 800 meters above the ground, a telescopic platform will be built directly to the ground. After completion, it will be the longest telescopic platform in the world. Passengers reach the ground through the telescopic platform, and then they can take the Alpine Glacier Sightseeing Express Train and reach the resort on the mountain in two hours.