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The term "aerial ropeway" refers to an installation transporting passengers in carriers hung to one or more cables such as chairlifts, gondola lifts, funitels and other aerial ropeways (reversible or pulsed operation). On the contrary, draglifts are lifts where the users remain permanently in contact with the ground and funiculars are very similar to trains.

Aerial ropeways can be divided into several subsets:

• The stations : there are usually 2 (downhill and uphill), used for loading and unloading passengers
• The line: including the ropes and the towers supporting them between the downhill and uphill stations
• The carriers: Chairs, open carriers where the safety of the user against the risk of falling is partially linked to the user’s behaviour, or cabins, closed carriers. In exceptional cases, the carrier can be a bucket that is a partially closed cabin.

From a technical point of view, there are two main technologies used in aerial ropeways:

• Monocable technology
  The term "monocable" means that one single rope carries (first function) and hauls (second function) the carrier that is hung to it. This type of rope is called a "carrying-hauling rope". Chairlifts, almost all gondola lifts, funitels and a few reversible or pulsed movement aerial ropeways belong to this category, representing 95% of aerial ropeways used by skiers in ski resorts worldwide.
• Bicable technology
  The term "bicable" means that the two functions of carrying and hauling are filled by separate ropes. The ropes that carry the carrier are called the carrying ropes and those that haul carriers are called the hauling ropes. The majority of reversible or pulsed movement aerial ropeways all over the world fall into this category, as well as a few gondola lifts.

Bicable technology was first implemented in the beginning of the 20th century on reversible aerial ropeways whereas monocable technology only appeared in the 50’s with single-user chairlifts and fixed grips.

Each technology can be combined with two different types of movement in the hauling or carrying-hauling rope movement:

• Unidirectional movement: the ropes always turn in the same direction, either at constant speed (continuous) or variable speed (discontinuous or pulsed).
• Reversible movement: the ropes turn in one direction and then in the other; the speed of the rope depends on the position of the carrier that cannot be removed from the rope.

The choice of installation depends on the characteristics of the site (slope, length available, nature of the terrain flown over, environment), the performances required (transport capacity, speed) and the type of customers (skiers, pedestrians, disabled passengers, etc.).

On a chairlift, passengers are transported seated on a chair hung to a carrying-hauling rope running at constant speed. There are two types of chairlifts: the fixed grip chairlift (TSF for "TéléSiège Fixe" in French) and the detachable chairlift (TSD for "TéléSiège Débrayable" in French). There are two main differences between a TSF and a TSD: speed and capacity of the chair.

The fixed grip chairlift (TSF):
A TSF chair is connected to the rope via a grip that is always at the same position on the cable. It is called a fixed grip. The chair always moves at the same speed as the rope, including when it passes through the stations. Speed is therefore limited since it is dangerous for passengers to get on or off a chair moving too fast. It has been 30 years since the speed was limited to 2.50 meters per second (about 9 km/h). Each chair can carry 2, 3 or 4 passengers and can even carry 6 on very short chairlifts running at low speed (less than 2m/s). New TSFs are almost all 4-seaters running at 2.30 m/s. A TSF4 (4 representing a 4-seater) can be equipped with more than 200 chairs, carry up to 2,400 people per hour and cost between 1 and 2 million euros.

TSF return terminal

The detachable chairlift (TSD)
A TSD chair is connected to the rope via a grip that can be removed from the rope when it arrives in a station and attached when it goes out. This grip is called a detachable grip. With this kind of grip, it is possible to vary the speed of the chair in-station while the speed of the carrying-hauling rope remains constant. This facilitates passenger loading and unloading since the speed of the chair during this phase can be lowered to between 0.8 m/s and 1.2 m/s thus increasing comfort. This explains why the capacity of the chair can be 4, 6 or 8 seats. The speed of the chair once on the line can be higher than for a TSF since the passengers are already seated. The increase in speed decreases transport time. Currently, speed is limited to 5m/s (18 km/h). New TSDs are mainly 6-seaters running at 5 m/s. A 6-seater TSD is much more complex than a TSF4 and can be equipped with more than 100 chairs, carry up to 3,200p/h and cost between 3 and 5 million euros. A TSD8 can carry up to 4,500 p/h.

A 6-seater TSD

Gondola lifts can use two technologies: monocable or bicable. In France, all gondola lifts use monocable technology (with one exception).

The monocable detachable gondola lift (TCD for "TéléCabine Débrayable"in French)
Its technologically is very similar to the detachable chairlift. Only the carrier is different. While TSDs are equipped with chairs, TCDs are equipped with gondolas. Each gondola comprises one or two detachable grips identical to those used for TSDs. During passenger loading, the gondola is moving, so its speed is limited to 0.30 m/s. But as the gondolas are closed, it is possible to increase speed on the line (current maximum at 6m/s). Moreover, the capacity of gondolas is only limited by the technological possibilities. New TCDs are either seated-passenger gondolas (current maximum at 8 seats) or standing-passenger gondolas (currently up to 16 seats). There are also so-called "mixed-gondolas" where there is both seated and standing room. A TCD can be equipped with more than 100 gondolas, transport up to 3,000 p/h and cost between 5 and 10 million euros.

Monocable fixed grip gondola lifts do exist, but they do not operate in continuous movement so they are most often pulsed movement aerial ropeways.

Monocable gondola lift

The bicable gondola lift
This works with detachable grips and gondolas like the TCD, but the difference is that these gondolas are hung to a carrier truck rolling along one or two carrying ropes and fixed to a hauling rope. These installations are more complex and are similar to and so are in competition with funitels. The only installation of the kind in France, built in 2002 in Val d’Isère, can carry 3,750 p/h at 7.5 m/s with 30 gondolas (24 sitting and 6 standing). This technology makes it possible to cross much larger distances without towers than with a TCD. Its cost is related to the complexity of the device (more than 10 million euros).

Bicable gondola lift in line

The name FUNITEL is a conjunction between the French words funiculaire and téléphérique. The FUNITEL is a "big monocable gondola lift". The difference is that each cabin is hung to 2 carrying-hauling ropes instead of only one. This characteristic obviously makes it possible to carry more people (capacity of the gondolas can be up to 40 seats). The position of the 2 ropes improve stability in wind, so it is possible to operate safely with higher winds than for a gondola lift and cross longer distances without towers. A funitel is more expensive than a monocable gondola lift (TCD) and its use is reserved for applications where its advantages are determining. Its performances and its price are similar to those of a bicable detachable gondola lift. There are only 3 FUNITELS in France.

A variant of the FUNITEL consists in using two carrying-hauling ropes without the detachable grip technology.

Funitel cabin

Cableways for passenger transport were initially developed on the basis of this very simple concept: two cabins are linked to the same hauling rope or carrying-hauling rope so that when you pull on the cable to make a cabin go up, the other one comes down, and of course they are made to arrive at the same time in opposite stations. This layout has the advantage of balancing non charged masses thus limiting the energy necessary to make the whole installation run. Carriers are linked to the hauling or carrying-hauling rope via a fixed grip and it is the variation in rope speed that makes the carriers slow down when approaching the stations and then stop. The major drawbacks of this concept lie in the transport capacity: only two cabins can be on the line and transport time is highly significant. In all the other concepts (except pulsed movement aerial ropeways) passenger loading time doesn’t penalize transport time. Like gondola lifts, either monocable or bicable reversible aerial ropeways exist.

Bicable reversible aerial ropeways
To reach adequate transport capacities (up to 2,000 p/h), it is necessary to use cabins with very big capacities (up to 200 people on two floors). Only bicable technology allows for this, thanks to the carrying ropes. Moreover, on this kind of installation the in-line speed can reach 12.5 m/s (45 km/h). This bi-cable technology shows its unique capabilities in sites where huge distances must be crossed and where placing a tower between stations (several kilometres apart) would be impossible. These outstanding installations greatly override the drawbacks.

These installations currently cost over 15 million euros. So it is not surprising that there are only about forty installations of the kind operating in France.

Examples:

The "Aiguille du Midi " aerial ropeway in Chamonix where 70 seater cabins run on ropes that cross a gap over 3 km long and 1,500m high, reaching 3, 800 m and facing the Mont Blanc

The "Vanoise Express" = the aerial ropeway linking La Plagne and Les Arcs. Each double deck carries 200 people over a 2 km gap.

Monocable reversible aerial ropeways
Monocable technology limits reversible aerial ropeway performances. The absence of the carrying rope makes them useful only for small installations or particular devices (residential or temporary connections). The only exception is the reversible funitel that is able to be equipped with bigger cabins thanks to its two carrying-hauling ropes. This concept can be interesting to reach very windy sites where required transport capacities aren’t very important (about 2,000 p/h). A recent installation of this kind is operating in France and a second one is under construction.

This concept exists with two different technologies, monocable and bicable. The operating system is based on a modulation of carrier speed in the stations and in line, like on a TSD or a gondola lift, to allow for comfortable passenger boarding. The difference is in the way the speed is modulated. In this concept, like the TSF chairs, carriers are linked to the rope by a fixed grip so the rope must slow down every time carriers pass through the stations. Generally, the installation is equipped with 4 carriers (or group of carriers) equally spaced from one another so that when two carriers simultaneously enter opposite stations, the two other carriers are located approximately in the middle of the line.

These installations are naturally cheaper than detachable installations but the performances are incomparable: When the carriers are in the stations, the in line carriers run slowly, considerably limiting transport capacity. Generally, these installations rarely obtain over 1,000 p/h. Their costs are variable. There are few such installations and they are reserved to specific uses.

La Bastille in grenoble