Lifting apparatus

In 1856 the port of La Joliette in Marseille was transformed by a huge property development masterminded by the financier Jules Mirès. The engineer and builder Paul Borde was contracted to undertake this project on a very short schedule. Only mechanisation could enable the rapid and precise positioning of materials and save on scaffolding. To achieve this, Borde invented a steam-powered crane on rails running parallel to the facade of the building under construction. Materials could be deposited anywhere on the construction by varying the angle of the crane’s pivoting boom. Only two men were required to operate the machine. The success of this project won Borde other major contracts in Marseille and then Paris. His lifting apparatus was patented and gradually improved. This scale model, bought by the Conservatoire after the Universal Exposition in 1867, is probably the final version of this machine.