[RIGGER’S CORNER] THE DUQUESNE INCLINE BY: VANESSA VICHAYAKUL
Rising up to the summit of Mount Washington at a grade of 30.5 degrees is the Duquesne Incline. Below, the City of Bridges juts out, cradled by the confl uence of water, its skyscrapers far below the reach of the mountain.
Opened to the public on May 20, 1877, the Duquesne Incline follows the tracks of an earlier Pittsburgh coal hoist dating back as early as 1854. T e incline was in operation from 1877 to 1962 by the Duquesne Inclined Plane Company, and was used to transport both people and goods. Originally powered by steam, the incline was hooked up to electricity in the 1930s. In 1963, T e Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Heights Incline was founded by local residents, with the goal of reopening the historic landmark. Restored with precision, the cars, equipment, and both upper and lower stations are now much as they were over 130 years ago. No air conditioning has been installed in the cars, and the lower station has a portable external bathroom to retain the building’s historical accuracy. One of the few anomalies allowed is a modern sprinkler system that covers each station and the wooden cars when they are docked. In the early 1900s, the original cars were replaced with the ones that passengers use today, with oak benches and cherry and maple paneling in the Eastlake style. T e original lower station was also wooden; however the building that is currently in use was constructed in 1890 using red brick. A national historic landmark, T e Duquesne Incline could
not have been possible without the engineering talent of two men, Samuel Diescher and John Augustus Roebling. Diescher, a Hungarian-American engineer, moved to the U.S. in 1866. He built his fi rst incline plane in Cincinnati, later moving to Pittsburgh, where he designed and built the Duquesne Incline. Diescher lived on Mount Washington with his family, and was responsible for the majority of the inclines built in the U.S. T e fi rst wire ropes for the Duquesne Incline were provided by John Augustus Roebling, a German-American
FACTS ABOUT THE
DUQUESNE INCLINE: Opened to Public: May 20, 1877 Cost to Build: $47,000 Length of Track: 794 feet Elevation: 400 feet Grade: 30.5 degrees Speed: 6 miles per hour Passenger: Capacity 18 per car
who had started his own wire rope manufacturing company. An engineer and inventor, Roebling began experimenting with ropes made of twisted wires after observing the limitations of the hemp ropes used to haul canal boats. Today a total of three cables are used on the Incline, two of which are 1 1/8" in diameter and one 1” safety cable. T e wire ropes at the Duquesne Incline are changed every two years for safety, though they could last for up to ten times longer. T e ropes do not take much stress, as they never come in contact with each other and the path takes few turns. Diescher is quoted for noting, “T e hoisting ropes, of which there is generally one – but in some cases two – to each car, have one end hitched to a car and the other to the drum… Concerning the drums, it may be said that the larger their diameter, the better… bending around curve of larger diameter is easier on the wire rope than if the diameter were small.” Described as “taking a step back in time,” by several travel guides, riding up the Duquesne Incline is a not-to-be-missed experience for visitors to Pittsburgh. Whether marveling at the vista of the metropolis below or the historic signifi cance of the engineering, the incline is a destination with broad appeal. ❙
John A. Roebling built several Pittsburgh bridges and with his son, Washington, designed the Brooklyn Bridge. (Read Wire Rope Exchange’s feature article on Washington A. Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge on page 20).
80 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
Photos courtesy of Brad Frankenfi eld, Chant Engineering
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