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| Type | Cable transport |
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Agondola lift (cable car) is a means ofcable transport and type ofaerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop ofsteelwire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by abullwheel in a terminal, which is typically connected to anengine orelectric motor. It is often considered acontinuous system since it features a haul rope which continuously moves and circulates around two terminal stations.[1] In contrast, anaerial tramway operates solely with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals.[2]
The capacity, cost, and functionality of a gondola lift will differ dramatically depending on the combination of cables used for support and haulage and the type of grip (detachable or fixed). Because of the proliferation of such systems in theAlps, theItalian:Cabinovia andFrench:Télécabine are also used in English-language texts.
The Kohlerer-Bahn opened on June 29, 1908, inBolzano,South Tyrol, the first modern aerial enclosedcable car solely for passenger service.[3]
In some systems the passenger cabins, which can hold between two and fifteen people,[4] are connected to the cable by means of spring–loaded grips. These grips allow the cabin to be detached from the moving cable and slowed in the terminals, to allow passengers to board and disembark. Doors are almost always automatic and controlled by alever on the roof or on the undercarriage that is pushed up or down. Cabins are driven through the terminals either by rotatingtires, or by a chain system. To be accelerated to and decelerated from line speed, cabins are driven along by progressively swifter (or slower) rotating tires until they reach line or terminal speed. On older installations, gondolas are accelerated manually by an operator. Gondola lifts can have intermediate stops that allow for uploading and downloading on the lift. Examples of a lift with three stops instead of the standard two are the Village Gondola, the Excalibur Gondolas atWhistler Blackcomb and the Skyride atAlton Towers.[citation needed]
In other systems the cable is slowed intermittently to allow passengers to disembark and embark the cabins at stations, and to allow people in the cars along the route to takephotographs, such asLebanon'sTéléférique which offers an exceptional view to the Mediterranean, the historical Jounieh Bay and the pine forest at the 80% slope which this gondola lift goes over. Such a system is calledpulse cabin and usually several cabins are loaded simultaneously.
Open-air gondolas, or cabriolets as commonly called, are fairly uncommon and are quite primitive because they are exposed to the elements. Their cabins are usually hollow cylinders, open from chest height up, with floors and roof covers. They are usually used as village gondolas and for short distances. Examples are atMont Tremblant Resort inQuebec, Canada, and atBlue Mountain Ski Resort (summer only, in the winter it is converted to a six person high-speed chairlift.) inOntario, Canada, The Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah,Mountain Creek, and the new Village Cabriolet atWinter Park Resort in Colorado. Open-air gondolas can also come in a style similar to that of pulse gondolas, like the Village Gondola atPanorama Ski Resort,British Columbia.
The first gondola built in theUnited States for a ski resort was at theWildcat Mountain Ski Area. It was a two-person gondola built in 1957 and serviced skiers until 1999. The lift was later demolished in 2004. The lift and its cabins were manufactured by a former Italian lift company: Carlevaro-Savio. One of the longest gondola rides in the world,Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen, is in theBernese Oberland inSwitzerland and connectsGrindelwald withMännlichen.
In recent years, gondola lifts are finding increased usage in urban environments. Cable cars used for urban transit include theMetrocable inMedellín,Colombia and theTransMiCable inBogotá,Colombia;Aerovia inGuayaquil,Ecuador;Portland Aerial Tram inPortland, Oregon,United States;Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City, New York, United States;Metrocable inCaracas,Venezuela;Trolcable inMérida, Venezuela; Cable Aéreo inManizales, Colombia;Mi Teleférico inLa Paz,Bolivia;Mexicable in theState of Mexico,Mexico;Teleférico de Santo Domingo; Yenimahalle-Şentepe teleferik inAnkara,Turkey;Maçka andEyüp Gondolas inIstanbul; theLondon cable car inLondon, England;[5]Nizhny Novgorod Cableway, Russia. The Metrocable systems in Medellin and Caracas are fully integrated with the public transit network which provides passengers the ability to seamlessly transfer to the local metro lines, whereas the network in La Paz, the largest in the world, forms the backbone of the city's public transit system itself.[6][7]
Disney Skyliner is a gondola-lift service, which opened on September 29, 2019, atWalt Disney World in central Florida. The system uses multiple lines and has five stations, and it connects Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios with one another and with several Disney-owned and -operated resort hotels.
In terms of urban gondola systems for the future,TransLink inMetro Vancouver has proposed to build a gondola upBurnaby Mountain toSimon Fraser University in an announcement in September 2010.[8] The project was sidelined in 2014,[9] but was revived in 2017.[10]
A 3.75 km Urban Gondola is under construction in Varanasi, India called theKashi ropeway since 2022. It is expected to start operations in 2026.
In late 2012, a widespread aerial gondola system was proposed forAustin, Texas, in an effort to expand mass transit options in the rapidly growing city.[11] The proposal was rejected by the local transit agency in 2017.[12]
A proposed gondola system inMontreal was ultimately rejected by theOld Port of Montreal.[13]
Aropeway conveyor ormaterial ropeway[14] is essentially a subtype of gondola lift, from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended.
Ropeway conveyors are typically found around largemining concerns, and can be of considerable length. TheCOMILOG Cableway, which ran fromMoanda inGabon toMbinda in theRepublic of the Congo, was over 75 kilometers (47 mi) in length. TheKristineberg-Boliden ropeway inSweden had a length of 96 kilometers (60 mi).
InEritrea, theItalians built theAsmara-Massawa Cableway in 1936, which was 75 kilometers (47 mi) long. TheManizales - Mariquita Cableway (1922) inColombia was 73 km long.
Conveyors can be powered by a wide variety of forms of power sources:electric motors,internal combustion engines,steam engines, orgravity. Gravity is particularly common in mountainous mining concerns, and directly employed; the weight of loaded down-going containers pulling the returning empties back up the slope. Gravity can also be used indirectly, where running water is available; awaterwheel is powered by gravity acting on water, and is used to power the cable.[15]
Conventional systems where a single cable provides both support and propulsion of the cabins are often called monocable gondola lifts.[16] Gondola lifts which feature one stationary cable (known as the 'support' rope), and one haul rope are known as bicable gondola lifts, while lifts that feature two support ropes and one haul rope are known as tricable gondola lifts. Famous examples of bicable gondola lifts include theNgong Ping 360 inHong Kong, theSingapore Cable Car, and theSulphur Mountain Gondola inBanff, Canada. This system has the advantage that the stationary cable's strength and properties can be tailored to each span, which reduces costs. They differ fromaerial tramways, as these consist only of one or two usually larger cabins moving back and forth, rather than circulating. Bicable and tricable systems provide greater lateral stability compared with monocable systems, allowing the system to operate in higher cross-winds.
The National Ski Areas Association reports 0.138 fatalities per 100 million miles transported compared to 1.23 for cars.[17]
Media related toGondola lifts at Wikimedia Commons| Aerial lifts |
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