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Aerial tramway

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An aerial lift , also known as a cable car or ropeway , is a means of cable transport in which cabins , cars , gondolas , or open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more cables . Aerial lift systems are frequently employed in a mountainous territory where roads are relatively difficult to build and use, and have seen extensive use in mining. Aerial lift systems are relatively easy to move and have been used to cross rivers and ravines. In more recent times, the cost-effectiveness and flexibility of aerial lifts have seen an increase of gondola lift being integrated into urban public transport systems.

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28-513: An aerial tramway , aerial tram , sky tram , aerial cablecar , aerial cableway , telepherique , or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip of an aerial tramway cabin is fixed onto the propulsion rope and cannot be decoupled from it during operations. In comparison to gondola lifts , aerial tramways generally provide lower line capacities and longer wait times. Cable car

56-441: A haulage rope ), and one or two passenger or cargo cabins. The fixed cables provide support for the cabins while the haulage rope, by means of a grip, is solidly connected to the truck (the wheel set that rolls on the track cables). An electric motor drives the haulage rope which provides propulsion . Aerial tramways are constructed as reversible systems ; vehicles shuttling back and forth between two end terminals and propelled by

84-652: A bridge connection between the adjacent cabins. The main advantage of the funifor system is its stability in high wind conditions owing to the horizontal distance between the two support ropes. Chairlifts are continuously circulating systems carrying chairs, which usually enable skiers to board without removing skis. They are a common type of lift at most ski areas and in mountainous areas. They can also be found at some amusement parks and tourist attractions. Detachable chairlifts usually move far faster than fixed-grip chairlifts, typically 5 m/s (16.4 ft/s) compared with 2 to 2.5 m/s (6.6 to 8.2 ft/s). Because

112-460: A cable loop which stops and reverses direction when the cabins arrive at the end stations. Aerial tramways differ from gondola lifts in that gondola lifts are considered continuous systems (cabins attached onto a circulating haul rope that moves continuously). Two-car tramways use a jig-back system: a large electric motor is located at the bottom of the tramway so that it effectively pulls one cabin down, using that cabin's weight to help pull

140-502: A continuously circulating cable whereas aerial trams simply shuttle back and forth on cables. In Japan, the two are considered as the same category of vehicle and called ropeway , while the term cable car refers to both grounded cable cars and funiculars . An aerial railway where the vehicles are suspended from a fixed track (as opposed to a cable) is known as a suspension railway . An aerial tramway consists of one or two fixed cables (called track cables ), one loop of cable (called

168-623: A separate moving rope provides propulsion. The grip of an aerial tramway is permanently fixed onto the propulsion rope. Aerial trams used for urban transport include the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City , as well as the Portland Aerial Tram . A gondola lift consists of a continuously circulating cable that is strung between two or more stations, over intermediate supporting towers. The cable

196-403: A single haul cable is looped round twice. Funitels combine a short time between successive cabins with a high capacity (20 to 30 people) per cabin. A funifor is a type of cable car with two support ropes and a haul rope, looped around. Each system is composed of a single cabin shuttling back-and-forth. Many installations are built with two parallel, but independent, lines. The funifor design

224-470: Is a fusion of a gondola lift and a chair lift. The company Leitner refers to it as telemix , while Doppelmayr uses the term combination lift . An example is Ski Arlberg 's Weibermahd lift in Vorarlberg ( Austria ) which alternates between 8-person chairlifts and 10-person gondolas. In undeveloped areas with rough terrain, simple hand-powered cable-cars may be used for crossing rivers, such as

252-419: Is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is connected to an engine or electric motor . Multiple gondola cabins are attached to the cable, usually with detachable grips, enabling them to slow down in the stations to facilitate safe boarding. Fixed grip variants exist, although these are considerably less common. Lifts with a single cable are sometimes referred to as "mono-cable" gondola lifts. Depending on

280-516: Is the usual term in British English, where tramway generally refers to a railed street tramway . In American English, cable car may additionally refer to a cable-pulled street tramway with detachable vehicles (e.g., San Francisco's cable cars ). As such, careful phrasing is necessary to prevent confusion. It is also sometimes called a ropeway or even incorrectly referred to as a gondola lift . A gondola lift has cabins suspended from

308-543: The Peak 2 Peak Gondola (Canada). A funitel differs from a standard gondola lift through the use of two overhead arms, attached to two parallel haul cables, providing more stability in high winds. The name funitel is a blend of the French words funiculaire and telepherique . Systems may sometimes be referred to as "double monocable" (DMC), where two separate haul cables are used, or "double loop monocable" (DLM) where

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336-571: The Republic of the Congo , was over 75 km in length. The Norsjö aerial tramway in Sweden had a length of 96 kilometers. The following abbreviations are frequently used in the industry: Leisure industry The leisure industry is the segment of business focused on recreation , entertainment , sports , and tourism (REST)-related products and services. The field has developed to

364-648: The San Juan Mountains of the US state of Colorado . Another famous use of aerial tramways was at the Kennecott Copper mine in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park , Alaska . Other firms entered the mining tramway business—Otto, Leschen, Breco Ropeways Ltd., Ceretti and Tanfani, and Riblet for instance. A major British contributor was Bullivant who became a constituent of British Ropes in 1924. In

392-507: The tuin used in Nepal. A material ropeway or ropeway conveyor is an aerial lift from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended. These are usually monocable or bicable gondola lifts . Material ropeways are typically found around large mining concerns, and can be of considerable length. The COMILOG Cableway , which ran from Moanda in Gabon to Mbinda in

420-484: The beginning of the 20th century, the rise of the middle class and the leisure industry allowed for investment in sight-seeing machines. Prior to 1893, a combined goods and passenger carrying cableway was installed at Gibraltar . Initially, its passengers were military personnel. An 1893 industry publication said of a two-mile system in Hong Kong that it "is the only wire tramway which has been erected exclusively for

448-637: The cable car business: Bleichert , Heckel, Pohlig, PHB (Pohlig-Heckel-Bleichert), Garaventa and Waagner-Biró. Now there are three groups dominating the world market: Doppelmayr Garaventa Group , Leitner Group, and Poma , the last two being owned by one person. Some aerial tramways have their own propulsion , such as the Lasso Mule or the Josef Mountain Aerial Tramway near Merano , Italy . While typically used for ski resorts, aerial tramways have been ported over for usage in

476-441: The cable moves faster than most passengers could safely disembark and load, each chair is connected to the cable by a powerful spring-loaded cable grip which detaches at terminals, allowing the chair to slow considerably for convenient loading and unloading at a typical speed of 0.75 m/s (2.5 ft/s), a speed slower even than fixed-grip. Chairs may be fitted with a "bubble" canopy to offer weather protection. A hybrid lift

504-510: The cable run. The first design of an aerial lift was by Croatian polymath Fausto Veranzio and the first operational aerial tram was built in 1644 by Adam Wybe in Gdańsk , Poland. It was moved by horses and used to move soil over the river to build defences. It is called the first known cable lift in European history and precedes the invention of steel cables. It is not known how long this lift

532-545: The carriage of individuals" (albeit workmen). After the pioneer cable car suitable for public transport on Mount Ulia in 1907 ( San Sebastián , Spain ) by Leonardo Torres Quevedo and the Wetterhorn Elevator ( Grindelwald , Switzerland) in 1908, others to the top of high peaks in the Alps of Austria, Germany and Switzerland resulted. They were much less expensive to build than the earlier rack railway . One of

560-932: The design of the individual lift, the capacity, cost, and functionality of a gondola lift will differ dramatically. Because of the proliferation of such systems in the Alpine regions of Europe , the French language name of télécabine is also used in an English language context. Gondola lifts are also used for urban transportation. Examples include the Singapore Cable Car , Metrocable (Medellín) , Metrocable (Caracas) , Mi Teleférico ( La Paz ), and London Cable Car . Gondola lifts which feature one stationary 'support' rope and one haul rope are known as bi-cable gondola lifts, while lifts that feature two support ropes and one haul rope are known as tri-cable gondola lifts. Examples include Ngong Ping Skyrail ( Hong Kong ) and

588-661: The first trams was at Chamonix , while others in Switzerland, and Garmisch soon followed. From this, it was a natural transposition to build ski lifts and chairlifts. The first cable car in North America was at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire in 1938. Many aerial tramways were built by Von Roll Ltd. of Switzerland, which has since been acquired by Austrian lift manufacturer Doppelmayr . Other German, Swiss, and Austrian firms played an important role in

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616-444: The other cabin up. A similar system of cables is used in a funicular railway. The two passenger or cargo cabins, which carry from 4 to over 150 people, are situated at opposite ends of the loops of cable. Thus, while one is coming up, the other is going down the mountain, and they pass each other midway on the cable span . Some aerial trams have only one cabin , which lends itself better for systems with small elevation changes along

644-776: The point of having university degrees and disciplines focused on it, such as the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration , Webber , and San Jose State University 's departments of hospitality , recreation and tourism management. Some universities offer leisure degrees, two of those universities can be found in the Netherlands: the Breda University of Applied Sciences and the NHLStenden University of Applied Sciences. Both offers bachelor 's in international leisure management,

672-549: The summit of the Stanserhorn in Switzerland carries 60 persons, with the upper floor accommodating 30 people in the open air. Despite the introduction of various safety measures (back-up power generators, evacuation plans, etc.) there have been several serious incidents on aerial tramways, some of which were fatal. Aerial lift A cable car ( British English ) or an aerial tramway , aerial tram ( American English ), uses one or two stationary ropes for support while

700-643: The urban environment in recent times. The Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City, the Rakavlit cable car in Haifa, Israel and the Portland Aerial Tram are examples where this technology has been successfully adapted for public transport purposes. The telpherage concept was first publicised in 1883 and several experimental lines were constructed. It was designed to compete not with railways, but with horses and carts. The first commercial telpherage line

728-564: Was developed by the Italian manufacturer, Hölzl, which later merged with Doppelmayr Italia. Today, the design is therefore patented by Doppelmayr Garaventa Group . At the top of each track, the haul rope loops back to the bottom instead of looping over to serve the other track, as would occur with a normal aerial tramway . This is shown in the diagram below. This feature allows for a single cabin operation when traffic warrants. The independent drive also allows for evacuations to occur by means of

756-716: Was in Glynde , which is in Sussex, England. It was built to connect a newly opened clay pit to the local railway station and opened in 1885. There are aerial tramways with double deck cabins. The Vanoise Express cable car carries 200 people in each cabin at a height of 380 m (1,247 ft) over the Ponturin gorge in France. The Shinhotaka Ropeway carries 121 people in each cabin at Mount Hotaka in Japan. The CabriO cable car to

784-473: Was used. In any case, it would be another 230 years before Germany would get the second cable lift, this newer version equipped with iron wire cable. Tramways are sometimes used in mountainous regions to carry ore from a mine located high on the mountain to an ore mill located at a lower elevation. Ore tramways were common in the early 20th century at the mines in North and South America. One can still be seen in

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