The History of Elevators
Elevators, commonly known as lifts, have become an integral part of modern life and culture. We take them for granted while they are completely taken us to different floors of the buildings. They are found anywhere where heights come into play, from sheer skyscrapers to the modest single-storey blocks. It seems hard to imagine our lives without them. But, this wasn’t always the case and the story behind the rise of elevators is an interesting one.
The first elevators can be traced back to 246 B.C., when Greek mathematician and engineer Archimedes built a primitive version. His assistant used a hoist driven by a system of Pulleys which allowed a box to be lifted, slowly, to be atop a three-storey building. This was mostly used for religious ceremonies, as the sequence of lifting the box up into the air was thought to signify some sort of ‘Godly Intervention’.
It wasn’t until around 1853 when the very first modernized elevator came into existence. The creation was jointly patented by two engineers; Elisha Otis and his son, Charles Otis. The prototype of their elevator incorporated a safety lock which clamped the rope together in case the cable broke. This revolutionary invention significantly increased the popularity of elevators and helped reduce the height demand for buildings.
The next big development for elevators happened in 1895, when the first electric elevator was presented at the Otis factory. It had a safety brake and was driven by an electric motor connected to a counterweight. This sparked a wave of advances in both electronics and hydraulic engineering that propelled elevator technology.
Since then we’ve seen a seemingly endless array of incredible features added to elevators, from automatic doors and talking buttons, to specialized cabin designs and ultra-modern control systems.
Elevators are pushed forward with the help of improved technology, increasing the speed, safety, and comfort of the lifts. According to the Elevator World Online magazine, the steepest elevation rise ever achieved by an elevator was at the iconic Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, where one of the cabins can take passengers to the top of the 829.84 m (2,722ft) building at a jaw-dropping speed of 10 meters per second.
Now, elevators are not only a common sight in residential buildings but in all sorts of commercial, business and industrial complexes. There are various types of elevators, too; cable driven elevators, roped-drum elevators, and hydraulic elevators, plus the traction elevators. Each type of elevator has a distinct purpose and operates differently. The advances in technologies, such as automated guided vehicles (AGV) and voice- controlled elevators, allow us to take elevators to a whole new level.
Elevators may have initially been built to provide a practical solution to our need for height, but they now also represent the cutting edge of humankind’s tireless effort to push the boundaries of innovation and science. For generations to come, elevators will remain indispensable for any building that seeks to establish itself as a modern-day marvel.
