Funitel

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Funitel Grand Fond in Val Thorens
Double loop system

A Funitel is a modern variant of the gondola lift in the form of a double cable car . The special feature of the system are the two parallel conveyor ropes to which the cabins are coupled with a very short suspension arm. The distance between the hoisting ropes is slightly larger than the cabin width. Funitels therefore have a very high level of wind stability and can carry large numbers of passengers (3200–4000 people per hour). Modern funitels have a high level of driving comfort thanks to air suspension and are well suited as the main feeder in large ski areas. Use as an urban passenger transport system is also conceivable.

history

In 1991 the first Funitel, Funitel de Péclet , was put into operation in Val Thorens , based on a DMC orbit developed in the 1980s by the French engineer Denis Creissels and built by the Pomagalski (Poma) company . In addition to Creissels, the Swiss cable car company WSO, the steel and mechanical engineering group reel and the operating company of Val Thorens, SETAM, were involved in the construction of this facility. Three years later, the Garaventa company built the second system of this type. In 1995 Doppelmayr built its first Funitel, the Gletscherbus II on the Hintertux Glacier (Austria).

Nowadays, funitels are built by various manufacturers, sometimes with serious differences in the underlying technology. The largest manufacturer is Doppelmayr , which merged with Garaventa in 2002. In addition, the company Pomagalski (Poma) also builds funitels, so that the Leitner Group also has a manufacturer of funitels.

technology

The cable guide at Funitels can be implemented as a DMC or DLM. DMC stands for Double MonoCable and means that two separate, endlessly spliced ​​conveyor ropes are used, each with its own drive and rope tensioning units. The synchronization of the ropes is controlled electronically; in the event of braking, the drive units are mechanically coupled via a differential gear . In contrast to this, DLM (Double Loop Monocable) uses a single, also endlessly spliced ​​hauling rope that is laid in a double loop. With DLM, the drive can either be via two separate drives, as with the DMC system, or a single, double-grooved drive pulley is used, which is driven by several motors. With the DLM system, the elaborate electronic synchronization of the rope strands is no longer necessary, which is why the system has now largely established itself. The market leader and inventor of the DLM rope loop is Doppelmayr , who only uses the DLM system. The version with the double rope loop was first used in 1987 on the Gaislachkogelbahn in Sölden - a forerunner of today's Funitel with a narrower rope guide. Competitor Pomagalski (Poma) has switched from DMC to DLM for its latest system after the Austrian patent expired after 20 years. The first Funitel was realized in 1991 as DMC-Funitel.

Problems

Due to the special rope routing in the Funitel system, very long rope lengths are required. This harbors enormous transport problems when the rope is delivered. Likewise, the rope in a Funitel system is more stressed than in conventional cable cars. The cable on the Galzigbahn had to be replaced after just a few years of operation, and the same applies to Gletscherjet 1 in Kaprun. At the Gaislachkoglbahn in Sölden, which opened in 1988, the 16 km long rope running through the middle station, which was often deflected by large angles, turned out to be an Achilles' heel of the system because the rope had to be replaced every four to six years. This led to the shutdown of the plant in 2010.

See also

Web links

Commons : Funitel  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Funitel. (No longer available online.) Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, archived from the original on December 4, 2013 ; accessed on January 12, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.doppelmayr.com
  2. Peter Sedivy (lecturer): Lecture materials “Cable car construction” at the Institute for Infrastructure, Intelligent Transport Systems division of the University of Innsbruck , summer semester 2012, page 145 f. Cable car construction script of the University of Innsbruck, 2012 ( Memento from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 6.8 MB), last accessed on November 28, 2015
  3. Mega rope for Gletscherjet in Kaprun ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press release from Teufelberger, Wels  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.teufelberger.com
  4. Description on funitel.de - a small piece of cable car technology , accessed on March 26, 2015
  5. Seilbahnlexikon at Bergbahnen.org , also available at google Books , page 125.