fallway

plural fallways

1. USA well or opening, through the successive floors of a factory or warehouse or the decks of a ship, providing access for goods, material, or people.

   In existing buildings where no flue is available either large enough to provide a fallway or located conveniently for hopper doors, a basement-fed KERNERATOR provides all of the advantages except the hopper-door convenience

   1940, “School Building Problems Solved by Kernerators”, in American School & University, volume 12, page 113, column 2

   Synonyms: drophole

2. A hydraulic canal, as for a water-powered mill.

   The remaining fallways are dry; the water that would otherwise beautify them is caught by the maw of the power station

   1935, Louis Fischer, Soviet Journey