Wire rope is a length of steel cable made by twisting multiple wire strands, each itself made of twisted individual wires, around a central core, producing a flexible yet very strong cable used for hoisting, hauling and structural support. The German mining engineer Wilhelm Albert developed the first wire rope in 1834 at the Clausthal mines in the Harz Mountains, replacing the hemp ropes and iron chains then used to hoist ore and miners, which were prone to sudden, catastrophic failure, with a cable whose many individual wires could each fail gradually and visibly before the whole rope gave way. Wire rope's combination of strength, flexibility and gradual, inspectable failure made it essential to nineteenth and twentieth century mining, shipping, elevators, and the suspension cables of major bridges.
Facts
Partially Attested
YearWikipedia dates the invention to the years between 1831 and 1834; 1834 is the end of that span and matches the existing description. SignificanceQuickly accepted in mining because it proved superior to the hemp ropes and metal chains used before. 1 FAQs
Why was wire rope adopted so quickly in mining?
It proved stronger than the hemp ropes and chains used before.
Wire rope was invented by the German mining engineer Wilhelm Albert between 1831 and 1834 for use in the mines of the Harz Mountains at Clausthal. It was quickly accepted because it proved superior in strength to the ropes of hemp and the metal chains that had been used before.
Connections
Associated With
Steel, Materials Wire rope is made by twisting steel wire strands into a helix.
In Field
Invented By
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Wire rope
History, sentence 1
invented by the German mining engineer Wilhelm Albert in the years between 1831 and 1834
History, sentence 2
It was quickly accepted because it proved superior
In Group: Wire Products, Lead paragraph
Wire rope is composed of as few as two solid metal wires twisted into a helix that forms a composite rope
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