Treadwheel Crane

Timeline

1. c. 1100–1150Notre-Dame de Paris building site · ParisIn the first half of the 12th century, cathedral sites in Paris and elsewhere adopted treadwheel lifting devices, replacing plain winches and pulley blocks and improving the efficiency of stone hoisting.
2. 1181–1185Reims and Chartres cathedral sites · ChampagneAround the 1180s, treadwheel cranes became standard equipment on Gothic sites such as Reims and Chartres, and could be moved between towers and disassembled and reassembled as construction progressed.
3. c. 1200–1400Cologne and Strasbourg · Holy Roman EmpireIn the 13th–14th centuries, treadwheel cranes were widely adopted in German and northern European cathedrals, ports, and castle works, with forms influencing and being influenced by French sites.