History of wire rope

The wire rope can be seen as one of the oldest mechanical components.

Wire rope production beginning with its invention by Wilhelm August Julius Albert in 1834 and the production was developed rapidly during the industrial expansion. Albert cables were the first to gain rapidly direct common usage.

Wire was first made 3000 years ago, and the earliest known wire rope dates from about 700 BC. This rope was made of gold and silver and was used for ornamental purposes.

In the ruins of Pompeii, a piece of bronze wire rope was found.

3000 years ago, metal filaments and wires were made without exception by hammering. Probably a metal sheet was hammered out first, then cut up into this strip and finally these strips were hammered out to increasing length and filed to make them circular in section.

Miners were the first to use wire rope or wire cable systematically. But Leonardo da Vinci had already visualized cables for the movements of loads. He made sketches of cables made from brass wire.

In 1780 the French engineer Riegnier applied iron cables for lightning conductors.
History of wire rope