Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

AERIAL ROPEWAY IN THE ANDES. 121 them in a more up-to-date manner. One con- dition imposed by the company was that the A Cableway projected. Government should establish easy communication between the mines and Chilecito. A glance at the illustration on page 123 will suffice to show the extremely difficult nature of the intervening country. a “ down ’ The System adopted. The system adopted provided for two fixed carrying ropes—an “ up ” and line—on which the cars would run, suspended from wheeled carriages. Motion was to be transmitted to the cars through endless hauling ropes. The cableway was de- signed to transport 40 tons per hour down- THE OLD MULE TRACK TO THE MINE. The cost of an ordinary or even of a rack railway would have been prohibitive, so it was decided to establish an aerial railway, some 21J miles long, on an almost straight line between the two terminals. The con- tract for building the cableway fell to Messrs. Adolph Bleichert and Co. of Leipzig, to whom the writer is much indebted for most of the pictures illustrating this account of the cableway, and for much of the following information. hill, and 4 tons per hour uphill, the individual loads, cars included, being limited to about half a ton. The contractors had to face several very difficult problems. In the first place, the cableway was to be one of unprecedented length, and this necessitated dividing it into eight separate sections, each having its own hauling rope. At the seven intermediate stations arrangements had to be made for uncoupling the cars from the hauling rope of