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Cable transport is a broad class oftransport modes that havecables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles calledcable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by drives within the object being moved oncableways. The use ofpulleys and balancing of loads moving up and down are common elements of cable transport. They are often used in mountainous areas where cable haulage can overcome large differences in elevation.
Forms of cable transport in which one or more cables are strung between supports of various forms and cars are suspended from these cables.
Forms of cable transport where cars on rails are hauled by cables. The rails are usually steeply inclined and usually at ground level.
Other forms of cable-hauled transport.
Rope-drawn transport dates back to 250 BC as evidenced by illustrations of aerial ropeway transportation systems inSouth China.[12][13]
The first recorded mechanical ropeway was by VenetianFausto Veranzio who designed a bi-cable passenger ropeway in 1616. The industry generally considers DutchmanAdam Wybe to have built the first operational system in 1644. The technology, which was further developed by the people living in the Alpine regions of Europe, progressed and expanded with the advent of wire rope and electric drive.[14]
The first use ofwire rope for aerial tramways is disputed. American inventorPeter Cooper is one early claimant, constructing an aerial tramway using wire rope inBaltimore 1832, to movelandfill materials. Though there is only partial evidence for the claimed 1832 tramway, Cooper was involved in many of such tramways built in the 1850s, and in 1853 he built a two-mile-long tramway to transportiron ore to hisblast furnaces atRingwood, New Jersey.[15]
World War I motivated extensive use ofmilitary tramways for warfare between Italy and Austria.[14]
During the industrial revolution, new forms of cable-hauled transportation systems were created including the use of steel cable to allow for greater load support and larger systems.Aerial tramways were first used for commercial passenger haulage in the 1900s.[12]
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The earliest form ofcable railway was thegravity incline, which in its simplest form consists of two paralleltracks laid on a steep gradient, with a single rope wound around a winding drum and connecting the trains ofwagons on the tracks. Loaded wagons at the top of the incline are lowered down, their weight hauling empty wagons from the bottom. The winding drum has abrake to control the rate of travel of the wagons. The first use of a gravity incline isn't recorded, but theLlandegai Tramway atBangor in NorthWales was opened in 1798, and is one of the earliest examples using iron rails.[16]
The firstcable-hauled street railway was theLondon and Blackwall Railway, built in 1840, which used fibre to grip the haulage rope. This caused a series of technical and safety issues, which led to the adoption ofsteam locomotives by 1848.[17]
The firstFunicular railway was opened inLyon in 1862.[18]
TheWestside and Yonkers Patent Railway Company developed acable-hauledelevated railway. This 3½ mile long line was proposed in 1866 and opened in 1868. It operated as a cable railway until 1871 when it was converted to usesteam locomotives.[19]
The next development of thecable car came in California.Andrew Hallidie, a Scottish emigre, gaveSan Francisco the first effective and commercially successful route, using steel cables, opening theClay Street Hill Railroad on August 2, 1873.[20] Hallidie was a manufacturer of steel cables. The system featured a human-operated grip, which was able to start and stop the car safely. The rope that was used allowed the multiple, independent cars to run on one line, and soon Hallidie's concept was extended to multiple lines in San Francisco.[21]
The first cable railway outside theUnited Kingdom and the United States was theRoslyn Tramway, which opened in 1881, inDunedin,New Zealand. America remained the country that made the greatest use of cable railways; by 1890 more than 500 miles of cable-hauled track had been laid, carrying over 1,000,000 passengers per year. However, in 1890, electric tramways exceeded the cable hauled tramways in mileage, efficiency and speed.[22]
The first surface lift was built in 1908 by GermanRobert Winterhalder inSchollach/Eisenbach,Hochschwarzwald and started operations February 14, 1908.[23]
A steam-powered toboggan tow, 950 feet (290 m) in length, was built inTruckee, California, in 1910.[24] The first skier-specific tow in North America was apparently installed in 1933 by Alec Foster atShawbridge in theLaurentians outsideMontreal,Quebec.[25]
The modern J-bar and T-bar mechanism was invented in 1934 by the Swiss engineer Ernst Constam,[26][27] with the first lift installed inDavos, Switzerland.[28]
The first chairlift was developed byJames Curran in 1936. The co-owner of theUnion Pacific Railroad,William Averell Harriman owned America's first ski resort,Sun Valley, Idaho. He asked his design office to tackle the problem of lifting skiers to the top of the resort. Curran, a Union Pacific bridge designer, adapted a cable hoist he had designed for loading bananas inHonduras to create the firstski lift.[29]
More recent developments are being classified under the type of track that their design is based upon.[citation needed] After the success of this operation, several other projects were initiated inNew Zealand andChicago. The social climate around pollution is allowing for a shift from cars back to the utilization of cable transport due to their advantages.[30] However, for many years they were a niche form of transportation used primarily in difficult-to-operate conditions for cars (such as on ski slopes as lifts). Now that cable transport projects are on the increase, the social effects are beginning to become more significant.[31]In 2018 the highest 3S cablecar has been inaugurated inZermatt,Switzerland after more than two years of construction. This cablecar is also called the "Matterhorn Glacier ride" and it allows passengers to reach the top of theKlein Matterhorn mountain (3883m)[32]
Urban cable transport encompasses all transport systems that use cables to pull vehicles around cities. The gondola or cableway type is spreading relatively quickly in South American urban environments, following the success of Medellín's Metrocable around 2004.[33][34][35][36] As of 2023, 33 aerial cable cars (ACC) transit lines were inaugurated in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the majority after 2010.[34] There are also three recent installations inAlgeria inTlemcen,Skikda andConstantine. Urban cable cars are a relatively old concept – theBastille cable car inGrenoble, France went into service in 1934[37] and theSugarloaf Cable Cars inRio de Janeiro in 1912 and 1913,[38] although the purpose of these installations is not to transport city dwellers in the narrow sense, but to serve as a tourist site. The majority of installations were built to overcome specific geographical challenges,[35] such as for river crossings, access to islands, major urban breaks (motorway, railway, large industrial site) or steep gradients.
Urban cable cars often have advantages such asrelatively small environmental footprints or less air pollution,[35] rapid and less complex construction than other transport infrastructures,[36] lower cost,[35] lownoise pollution,[35] faster transport,[35] a comfortable pleasant view,[35][36] a pull factor for tourists,[35] very little space needs at ground level,[36]and lower energy cost per passenger. In Medellin, connecting high-up neighborhoods with the rest of the city through its MetroCable system has helped reduce the city's crime rates.[35] Disadvantages can include challenges of poor weather conditions and slower speeds depending on the case.[36]
According to a World Bank study, they typically reach speeds of between 10-20km/h and can carry up to 2,000 people per hour in each direction.[35] One line in Bolivia's capitalLa Paz carries up to 65,000 people every 24 hours. It has a length of 16km as of 2019 and a one-way ticket costed around $0.42.[35] There areinstallations planned all over the world that do not necessarily address specific geographical problems – according to The Gondola Project,[39] these includeTasmania,Gothenburg (Sweden),Mombasa (Kenya) andChicago.[35]
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When compared to trains and cars, the volume of people to transport over time and the start-up cost of the project must be a consideration. In areas with extensive road networks, personal vehicles offer greater flexibility and range. Remote places like mountainous regions and ski slopes may be difficult to link with roads, making cable transport project a much easier approach. A cable transport project system may also need fewer invasive changes to the local environment.
The use of Cable Transport is not limited to such rural locations as skiing resorts; it can be used in urban development areas. Their uses in urban areas includefunicular railways,[40]gondola lifts,[41] andaerial tramways.[42]
According to a study by the technical inspection associationTÜV SÜD, for every 100 million hours of travel, there are on average 25 deaths due to car accidents, 16 due to plane accidents and only two due to cable car accidents, most of which are due to passenger behaviour.[43]
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