Timeline for How could the elevator at The Wall be powered?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
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| Feb 7, 2019 at 23:32 | comment | added | Acccumulation | @Mazura "You can't just cut blocks of ice out of the wall; there'd be no wall left." If you remove 100 kg a day for 1000 years, that's 36,500 cubic meters. The wall is 9 billion cubic meters. And if it snows on top of the wall, that's constantly adding more mass. | |
| Feb 7, 2019 at 23:27 | comment | added | Acccumulation | "The problem is. these counterweights (except for the default one, which is always attached) will remain on the ground level once used and we should return them up to use them." No, when you're using counterweights to slow descent, those counterweights will be going from the ground to the top. You will be losng energy to friction, though, so on every trip you need to either supply power or have more weight going down than up. | |
| Feb 7, 2019 at 10:47 | comment | added | anaximander | I presume the soldiers need to periodically clear snow from pathways, chip ice from railings, etc. to keep the top of the wall passable and safe. Collecting the snow and ice in buckets and dumping it into a storage tank at the top of the list would ensure a steady supply of conterweight ice/water, as well as a steady supply of menial labour to give to whichever members of the Watch recently irritated their superior officers. Fantasy world or no, tiring and monotonous work as minor punishment is a fine and ancient tradition in many militaries. | |
| Feb 7, 2019 at 10:10 | comment | added | Chris H | Partial counterweighting is very common, and means a small amount of human effort (or beasts of burden, water power in warmer climates, etc.) is needed for reasonably effective movement. A counterweight slightly greater than the empty weight would mean only lifting part of the contents, for example. Of course you have to take into account the weight of the rope, especially if you might want to lift all working parts clear of assaillants (pulleys can help hereas the counterweight wouldn't have to drop all the way down) | |
| Feb 7, 2019 at 8:31 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | @Delioth - The rope can be counterbalanced simply by making it a continuous loop that doesn't quite touch the ground. | |
| Feb 7, 2019 at 0:22 | comment | added | Mazura | You can't just cut blocks of ice out of the wall; there'd be no wall left. No free lunch: same amount of work to carry blocks up, to send them down, as it is to just bring up the car. | |
| Feb 6, 2019 at 23:11 | comment | added | Dave X | The funicular idea is good -- two cabins counterweight each other on either side of the pulley. And dangle 700' of rope from the bottom of each one to counterbalance the changing amount of rope above each car. | |
| Feb 6, 2019 at 21:11 | comment | added | Nuclear Hoagie | Regarding needing to bring counterweights back to the top, I figured that sometimes the lift would need to be winched up manually, but could run automatically with adequate preparation. It would allow the soldiers to set the lift in their downtime, and run it manpower-free during battles. | |
| Feb 6, 2019 at 21:00 | comment | added | Delioth | It might be worth noting that there's a bit more complexity to this - for sufficient differences in height, you must also take into account the weight of the rope suspending the elevator (and how that changes the mass of your elevator-side and your counterweight-side as the thing moves). This is something theatre curtain systems need to account for, even at 100 feet tall. | |
| Feb 6, 2019 at 20:37 | comment | added | DJClayworth | It's an ice funicular. | |
| Feb 6, 2019 at 17:49 | history | edited | Jacopo | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Feb 6, 2019 at 16:16 | history | edited | Jacopo | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Feb 6, 2019 at 15:39 | history | answered | Jacopo | CC BY-SA 4.0 |