Karrenseilbahn
The Karrenseilbahn is a cable car in Dornbirn in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg . It connects a valley station at 464 m above sea level. A. in Dornbirn- Gütle with the top of the 971 meter high Dornbirn local mountain Karren . The facility is owned by Dornbirner Seilbahn Gesellschaft mbH , in which the city of Dornbirn has a stake. The manufacturer of the railway is the company Ludwig Steurer Maschinen und Seilbahnbau in Doren.
history
prehistory
The story of the idea of a cable car on the cart begins shortly before the 20th century. In 1892 the industrialist Viktor Hämmerle had a wooden observation tower built on the cart, from which a wonderful panoramic view was made possible. Hämmerle's daughter later left the deforested property to the Dornbirner Seilbahngesellschaft in memory of her father and thus created an essential cornerstone for the construction of a cable car. In the carnival season of 1898, the plans of qualified engineer Sepp Luger, who was involved in the construction of one, were used as an opportunity for numerous jokes. In fact, it would be a few more years before the project was started again.
In 1950 the Dornbirner Seilbahngesellschaft mbH was founded, whose primary goal was to get tourism going again after the Second World War by building ski lifts . The first construction project was the construction of a drag lift on Lank am Bödele . The aforementioned engineer Luger was appointed project manager. The financing of the 200,000 schillings (about 14,500 euros) expensive building was then financed to 20% from the funds of the Marshall Plan . On January 25, 1951, this direct predecessor project of the Karrenseilbahn was put into operation.
planning
In 1952, Sepp Luger presented his concept for the construction of a cable car on the cart. A little later, the architect Emanuel Thurnher was commissioned to plan a restaurant . The mountain station has already been planned and implemented using a reinforced construction method, as a later extension of the cable car from the Karren to the Staufen was planned (this variant was not implemented).
financing
However, the project stalled when the plan to support 60% of the financing on the Marshall Plan aid failed. Subsequently, the budget had to be reduced significantly, so that the restaurant was no longer included in the present financing of 3.15 million schillings (about 230,000 euros). The original plan also included a start from Mühlebach , a slightly elevated settlement on a hill. However, this was discarded in favor of the more favorable transport links on Gütlestrasse, with the difficulty that a pillar now had to be built to cross that very hill ( Bürgle ).
Construction and opening
construction
The construction itself turned out to be very difficult due to the heavy parts that had to be transported by rail and the lack of a helicopter . The parts for the mountain station had to be transported over the steep cart path in a Unimog in over 2,000 journeys . In May 1956 the construction of the support began, which, in contrast to modern cable car supports, was riveted hot instead of screwed. In addition, the approximately two-tonne support rope shoe was pulled up by hand using rollers. The drive for the cable car was first exhibited at the Dornbirn trade fair , then stored in a market hall and finally transported to the mountain station in 1956 (today the drive is located in the valley station). Laying out and tensioning the heavy steel cables presented the workers with the greatest challenge. Nevertheless, the strenuous work, which was also carried out by hand, could be completed within three and a half weeks by a work team from Vorarlberger Illwerke . The cabins, which weigh around a ton, were installed in the summer of 1956 by employees of Doppelmayr (Hard) .
Technical specifications
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The train's drive was located in the mountain station. It was a controllable direct current drive. The direct current was converted using a Ward-Leonard theorem . To transmit power from the direct current motor (drive) to the sheave (pull rope), no gears and no toothed ring were used, but ten V-belts were used to achieve extremely smooth running. The use of ten V-belts was prescribed by the supervisory authority. Technically, three V-belts would have been sufficient for power transmission. This open V-belt drive did not have to be replaced during the entire operating time of the old cable car system (39 years). With the supply of electrical energy to the mountain station, the mountain village of Ebnit could also be connected to the public energy network for the first time.
- Rope height in the valley station: 463.5 m
- Rope height in the mountain station: 977.0 m
- Track length (horizontal length): 1389.8 m
- Operating length ( inclined length ): 1481.0 m
- one support (37 m high)
- Mean slope: 37%
- Greatest slope: 61%
- Two vehicles with a capacity of 15 + 1 people or 1200 kg
- Maximum travel speed 7 m / s (corresponds to 4.8 minutes travel time)
- largest transport capacity per hour and direction: 180 people.
opening
The opening of the Karrenseilbahn took place on November 17, 1956, a little later than planned, as it was originally intended to open for the summer fair, but this could not be met due to material tests. In addition to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Alfred Hämmerle and Mayor Günther Anton Moosbrugger, Pastor Johannes Schöch was also a guest at the ceremony. For the opening, the Dornbirn music school director Friedrich Jung even composed his own festival cantata . The fare for people residing in Vorarlberg was initially twelve schillings, children under 1.30 meters tall paid half this price.
"Karrenseilbahn new"
After the 1,500,000th passenger was welcomed on August 15, 1991, the question arose at the beginning of the 1990s as to whether a renovation of the existing infrastructure would be desirable. The deep connection of the people of Dornbirn with the Karrenseilbahn was used and after a call for funding, shares of over a million schillings (over 72,000 euros) were sold after just one week, after three weeks there were 200 people, the shares of a little more than three million schillings (over 218,000 euros) had subscribed. This finally sealed the “Karrenseilbahn new” project.
The planned and tested variant of relocating the valley station of the Karrenseilbahn cable car to Gütle and the Gütle - Brentenkopf - Karren cable car route was not pursued any further for cost reasons and the cableway was modernized within the framework of the existing route.
On June 28, 1996, the refurbished Karrenseilbahn was officially opened by the mayor and chairman of the supervisory board, Rudolf Sohm, and managing director Hermann Gabriel. After eight months of construction, the cable car was completely renewed. Particularly noteworthy is the newly built panorama restaurant planned by architect Leopold Kaufmann, which was built on steel girders a few meters above the slope. Shortly after the first year of operation of the new Karrenseilbahn, the 250,000th visitor was welcomed, in 1999 it was the 750,000 visitor mark that was reached and in 2006 the new Karrenseilbahn already counted the two millionth visitors.
Hurricane " Lothar " tore a suspension rope from the support on December 26, 1999, threw a pull rope over a suspension rope and caused a one-month interruption of operations. Since the operation of the railway was stopped anyway due to the hurricane, nobody was injured. With brackets then attached to the support, with which the suspension rope can be fixed on the support if necessary, a renewed dropping of the rope in future storms is to be prevented.
From February 27 to May 11, 2013, the mountain station of the Karrenseilbahn cable car was renovated and expanded. Since the existing infrastructure of the mountain station had to be renovated due to official requirements, the panorama restaurant was also expanded and rebuilt in the course of the upcoming construction work. With an investment of 1.3 million euros, the restaurant was expanded by 90 seats by adding additional panoramic elements and the kitchen was completely renovated. For this purpose, the cable car company increased its capital in advance by publicly opening shares in the company for subscription.
Technical specifications
The height difference of 512 meters is overcome over a distance of 1477 meters using a two-lane aerial tramway. The inclined length is 1475 meters, the horizontal length only 1348 meters. The track width in the stations is 3.6 meters, whereas the only support is nine meters. With an average incline of 37%, the cabs move at a speed of seven to ten m / s . In around 1,800 operating hours a year, with a travel time of 3.5 to 5 minutes, between 200,000 and 250,000 passengers can be transported, with the maximum transport capacity being 517 people per hour. In each of the two 2 × 4 meter cabins, which move in opposite directions, up to 35 people (plus an operator) or 2700 kilograms can be transported. The cable car cabin itself has a dead weight of 900 kg. In maximum operation, 348 kW are required to start up and a maximum of 245 kW drive power is required while driving.
Each pair of suspension ropes is tensioned with a 60 t weight, the traction rope with 20 t. There is a weather station on a rope rider.
particularities
On August 2, 1991, a previously unique base jump took place at the Karrenseilbahn . The journalist Alfred Waibel (Dornbirn) jumped under notarial supervision and in the presence of witnesses, press and radio from one of the cable car cabins, 72 meters above the treetops, at approx. 860 m above sea level. This was intended to demonstrate the efficiency of the paraglider rescue system "Cut-away" and also to gain an entry in the Guinness Book of Records .
"Cart edge"
In March 2016, a new tourist attraction was opened below the panorama restaurant, directly at the mountain station of the Karren cable car, the so-called "Karren Edge". This is a panoramic viewing platform that protrudes 12 meters above the edge of the rock, the railing of which is largely made of glass and thus offers visitors a 360-degree view at a height of 976 meters. The floor of the footbridge is made of a metal grating and thus also offers a view downwards. At the far edge of the platform is since April 2016 Selfie -Point at which visitors via a remote release by means of a fixed camera Panorama photos can customize on the platform itself.
literature
- Dornbirner Seilbahn Gesellschaft mbH (publisher): 50 years of Dornbirner Karrenseilbahn - brochure for the anniversary on November 17, 2006 .
Web links
- Official website of the Karrenseilbahn cable car.
References and comments
- ↑ a b 36-AT Karrenseilbahn ~ lift database | Lift-World.info. Retrieved March 11, 2020 .
- ^ The inaugural meeting took place on July 28, 1950. City treasurer Eugen Gabriel chaired the meeting. Alfred Hämmerle, a business graduate, was appointed as chairman of the supervisory board. Members of the supervisory board from the very beginning were: Mayor Dr. Moosbrugger, Hermann Rhomberg, Alfons Fussenegger and Johann Drexel. Ing.Sepp Luger was appointed as the second managing director of the Ges.mbH.
- ↑ A project for a cable car from Dornbirn to Schwende was examined beforehand, but it was not implemented.
- ↑ Technical data taken from the " Operating Instructions for the Karrenseilbahn ".
- ↑ The horizontal length of the cable car route would have been 1915 m (variant A) or 1979 m (variant B) and would have been 516 and 580 m longer. Three supports were planned.
- ↑ https://www.vol.at/2006/11/Karren_Geschichte.pdf
- ^ ORF Vorarlberg: Karren: Renovation work on schedule . Article of April 23, 2013.
- ↑ Trial jump on July 28, 1991.
- ^ Notary Gerhard Hammerer, public notary in Dornbirn.
- ↑ Flat parachute with 20 m² effective area and seven cells open to the front.
- ↑ Presentation of the Karren-Edge on the Karren cable car website.
Coordinates: 47 ° 24 ′ 1.6 ″ N , 9 ° 45 ′ 12.8 ″ E