Ancient Roman Mining and Quarrying Techniques
Read this article about Roman mining to learn how ancient Romans solved its technical problems. They even had mechanical devices for removing modest amounts of water from mineshafts.
Stone Masons and Quarrying Techniques
Lifting Techniques
Romans used workers and machinery for light and heavy loads, respectively. In the case of lighter loads, they were easily lifted by groups of slaves on scaffolding. On the heavier and more technical end, machinery was required whenever lifting was done. The power and type of machine changed depending on the weight of the object. Romans took pride in their ability to construct large scale buildings and viewed them as technical achievements.
Similar to how workers could bail out water from mines in a fireman's line, the same could be done for transporting light loads of materials. Another method was to use a water wheel to raise tools and materials up instead of water. The pragmatism of Roman construction is shown here where two different scenarios use the same methods. In the case of quarried stones, workers used wooden rollers to help them overcome friction before they had to be lifted. Ropes were also used to help the workers get a grip. Access ramps were used when the stone needed to be transported up or down slightly so that it did not need to be lifted. When lifting was finally needed, Romans used Greek lifting methods which were sufficient according to Vitruvius.
Pulley Systems
Figure 14: Idealized Pulley Multiplication
If the load was less than the weight of the worker, a simple pulley could be used to bring up objects. If the load was heavier, a modified pulley could be used to lift it instead. By combining multiple pulleys and distributing the rope's tension, it was possible to reduce the effort required to lift heavier objects. The benefit of this is that the force required to lift the object is proportional to the number of pulleys, the trade off is that the load will be lifted more slowly because there is also proportionally more rope to pull to achieve the same height.
Romans further improved this system again by taking advantage of worker's weight. Levers attached to a hollow wheel with steps replaced the manual winch, which allowed workers to step on the wheel and cause rotation just as with the water wheel. More workers could be added as the size of the load increased.
Winches
Figure 15: Simple Winch
The winch was the first appearance of reduction ratios. This system has the same trade offs as the pulley system, but works differently. The force required to lift loads decreases as the difference between the crank handle length and roller drum circumference increases. Torque is created on the roller drum as the crank is turned, bringing the object up. The torque will increase with handle length. The downside to this is that the handle has a longer distance to travel as it gets longer, meaning the load is picked up at a slower speed. Romans combined the pulley and winch together to make their version of a crane.
Cranes
The versatile Roman crane is described by Vitruvius and confirmed by paintings found by archaeologists. Two beams of thicknesses depending on the size of the load were separated at the ground and joined at the top like an upside down V to form the jib.
A pulley system was attached to the top of the V to lift objects, and the winch was cranked from the bottom. To swing loads back and forth, pulley systems were attached as supporting legs that could move the jib. Romans outfitted these cranes with walking wheels as well and used pulley multiplication if the load was heavy enough. It was important to make sure that the two ground supports of the beams were stable, as the whole system would fail if the jib became undone.