A Moving Challenge

A Moving Challenge. . , Granite, brick, and other supplies used to build Fort Knox, as well as the 74 cannons and carriages eventually placed here, all arrived by water. As a result, the wharf area was undoubtedly the scene of busy activity throughout most of the fort's 20-year construction period., After the first wharf was completed in 1844, granite and supplies were unloaded for construction of Battery A and Battery B. In 1851, as engineers made plans to begin construction of the main fort structure's foundation and walls, the second wharf was built, just downriver from the first., Work on the fort's major structure presented many challenges, including the transportation of granite, brick, and supplies from the wharves to the main building site. To solve this problem, workers built an elevated ramp (inclined plane) with rails that gradually rose 75 feet from the wharf area to the site's upper level., A steam engine at the top of the ramp turned a drum connected by an endless chain to a drum at the bottom of the ramp. Small-wheeled carts (trucks), loaded with stone or other supplies, were fastened to the chain and pulled up the ramp., The ramp brought great efficiency to the movement of large quantities of heavy materials around the fort site. Once a cart reached the top of the ramp, it was moved to another set of tracks that ran along the middle of the fort's ditch. Horses, oxen, or workers could then pull or push the cart along these tracks to the specific place that the material was needed.