Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

AERIAL ROPEWAY IN THE ANDES. 123 of a section were completed, the ropes for that section were brought along ; and it may be noted that the conveyance of the ropes was the most troublesome job of all, because these items of the outfit could not be subdivided. Some of the lengths weighed Transport- ^w0 fons or mOre. The ropes ing the were Wound on large drums, Ropes. ° , after the manner of electric cables, for transport from the factory to Chilecito. When the time came to use a rope it was unwound and paid out on the line of the cableway by large gangs of men, a certain weight being apportioned to each man. The drum being empty at last, the procession took its slow and snake-like way uphill, until the rope reached its destination. There the rope was raised on to the towers, made fast at one end, and strained to the pre-determined curve. This method of transport cost a lot of money—about £2 per mile—so that where possible the ropes were forwarded over the completed sections, attached in coils to a number of car-hangers. Some 1,200 men were employed on the work. The hours of labour and rate of wages varied with the altitude. On tions some ten to twelve hours made a normal working day ; but in the mountains, where respiration was more difficult and every movement of the body more exhausting, an eight-hour day was the rule. On the highest sections of all the summer temperature seldom rises above 5° Centigrade, and in winter the thermometer the lower sec- Intense Cold at High Altitudes. f THE COUNTRY TO BE COVERED BY THE CABLEWAY. The route is indicated by a straight line; the circles show the sites of the stations.