Meridabahn

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Mountain railway
Meridabahn ( Spanish Teleférico de Mérida Mukumbarí )
Lower section gondola above Mérida
Lower section gondola above Mérida
Location Mérida (Venezuela)
design type Aerial tramway
Construction year March 1960 (first cable car), October 7, 2016 (new construction)
Valley station Barinitas valley station, Mérida
Mountain station Pico Espejo
Height of the valley station 1,577 m
Height of the mountain station 4,765 m
Height difference 3,188 m
length 12,497 m
Travel time 2020 seconds
Gondolas 2 cabins of the CWA per section
Maximum transport capacity 330 people / hour

The Meridabahn ( Spanish Teleférico de Mérida Mukumbarí ) is a cable car in Venezuela. Its mountain station was the highest mountain station in the world for tourist passenger transport until 2008. The Meridabahn runs from the outskirts of Mérida , which is around 1,500 m high, to Pico Espejo at 4,765 m in the immediate vicinity of Venezuela's highest mountain, Pico Bolívar .

course

The almost 12,500 meter long cable car consists of four sections, each with a two-lane aerial tramway , and overcomes a height difference of 3,189 meters. It moves forward at 7 meters per second. The sections are divided as follows:

Sections of the Meridabahn
section Art starting point End point Height difference length Number Support
1 Cable car, gondolas painted in the national colors of Venezuela Barinitas valley station (1,577 m) La Montaña (2,436 m) 864 m 3,427 m 3
2 Aerial tramway, gondolas painted red La Montaña (2,436 m) La Aguada (3,452 m) 1,010 m 3,273 m 3
3 Aerial tramway, gondolas painted blue La Aguada (3,452 m) Loma Redonda (4,045 m) 593 m 2,756 m 3
4th Aerial tramway, gondolas painted yellow Loma Redonda (4,045 m) Pico Espejo mountain station (4,765 m). 722 m 3,041 m no
Total 3,189 m 12,497 m

The Barinitas valley station (1,577 m) went into operation on April 10, 2015 following the modernization of the Merida cable car. On around 6,000 square meters there are also various shopping opportunities and the train ticket offices. The annual mean temperature is around 19 degrees Celsius.

After driving over the Río Mérida to the station La Montaña , there is a beautiful panoramic view of Mérida. The intermediate station was opened in May 2016 and is the starting point for the 2nd section of the Meridabahn.

At the end of the 2nd section, the La Aguada station , the view goes to Pico La Concha (4,922 m). This intermediate station was also put into operation in May 2016.

The intermediate station Loma Redonda (4,045 m) marks the last stop on the way to Pico Espejo (4,765 m). It is located near the village of Los Nevados and at the same time offers a view of various mountain lakes. There is also material from the old Meridabahn on display, including a gondola.

Finally, the Pico Espejo mountain station is one of the highest mountain stations in the world at 4,765 m, only beaten by the mountain station of the Dagu Glacier Gondola (as of 2020). From the often snow-covered Pico Espejo , Venezuela's highest mountain, Pico Bolívar (4,981 m) can be seen in the immediate vicinity. On the Pico Espejo is a white, approximately 2.5 m high statue of the Virgin Mary of the Virgen de las Nieves .

history

First cable car

An old 1st section cabin (2006)

The construction of the first cable car goes back to an initiative of the Club Andino Venezolano in 1952, as a memorial plaque at the mountain station reminds of. The goal was the tourist development of the Sierra Nevada de Mérida . Members of the Club Andino Venezolano politically pushed through the construction of the cable car during the presidency of Marcos Pérez Jiménez . In 1955 the plans were approved and the construction of the line between Mérida and the village of Las Aguadas began. The opening of this section was scheduled for October 1958, but was suspended due to the death of Pope Pius XII. canceled at short notice.

As a result, the project was extended and the extension to Pico Espejo was taken by hand. It was built between 1958 and 1960 by the French company Applevage under the direction of Maurice Comte. Comte was assisted by the Italian Giovanni Rizzi and the Swiss Raymond Ruffieux. 25 international suppliers were involved in the project, including Eggeca for engineering services and Egecom for steel construction. The Gesellschaft für Förderanlagen Ernst Heckel from Germany supplied the construction cable cars for the three lower sections of the Meridabahn, while the construction cable car for the top section was built by Habegger from Thun in Switzerland. The ropes were supplied by Felten & Guilleaume . The construction cost the lives of between five and seven workers, depending on the source.

The entire Meridabahn was opened in March 1960. It cost around 70 million bolivares, the Venezuelan currency of the time, which at that time was equivalent to around 16 million US dollars. The cabins of the individual cable car sections were kept in various colors: the bottom section had yellow, the second section blue, the third and the top section had red cabins.

Accident on November 24, 1991

Gangloff cabin (replacement after crash in 1991) in the 4th section of the Meridabahn

The railway has always been exposed to severe weather conditions. This and the not always punctual maintenance often forced the operators to shut down the trains. On November 24, 1991, lack of maintenance (failure to move the rope) was also the reason why the gondola crashed due to a broken rope at around 9.15 a.m. local time in the fourth section, killing the gondola operator and one other person. The 35 tourists in the oncoming cabin, including many Germans, got away with the horror and could be evacuated.

After the accident, the Meridabahn stood still for a long time. Operations were only partially resumed in the summer of 1996 as far as Las Aguadas . The top section, where the devastating accident occurred, remained closed until 1999. It reopened on January 11, 1999 with a new 36-seater cabin supplied by Gangloff . Various additional modernizations were previously carried out by Von Roll . Until 2005, the uppermost section of the Meridabahn operated from then on with only one functional cabin, while the other was only operated with a counterweight.

Shutdown

Old cabin in the 2nd section a few weeks before decommissioning (2008)

In August 2008 the system was inspected by experts, including the well-known Swiss cable car expert Hili Manz. This showed that the ropes, the same ropes since opening, had reached the end of their useful life after 50 years. A normal useful life is approximately 25 years. In addition, a cable car pillar showed damage.

A recommendation was made to the Venezuelan government to stop operations immediately and to replace the system with a new one due to severe signs of wear. Based on the recommendation, the Venezuelan Ministry of Tourism closed the railway on August 11, 2008. As a result, tourism around Mérida collapsed by around 40 percent.

New building

In 2010, Doppelmayr was awarded the contract as general contractor to replace the four cable car sections on the same route. The new opening was initially set for 2012, later for April 2013. The actual, full opening finally took place on October 7, 2016.

In addition to Venezolana de Teleféricos (Ventel) and the Doppelmayr / Garaventa Group, numerous other international companies were also involved in the new building . Heliswiss transported various material, including the new gondola cabins with a Kamow Ka-32 helicopter during the new construction. 3,000 tons of material were shipped from Switzerland to Venezuela for the new building, plus around 250 tons of tools.

Cabins of the 4th section after the reopening (2017)

The total cost of the new building was 106 million euros. This was twice as much as originally estimated, which was primarily due to various special requests from Hugo Chávez . Various outstanding payments have not yet been fully paid by the Venezuelan state (as of May 2017). Among other things, the client owes the Swiss company Garaventa 13 million Swiss francs , so that the construction of further cable cars in Venezuela had to be stopped.

The new building was a prestige project of the Venezuelan state, which from 2010 celebrated the bicentenary of the wars of independence in Venezuela . Accordingly, various gondolas of the Meridabahn are decorated with 200 Bicentenario stickers and are in the respective national colors of the country. In the marketing of the Meridabahn, the addition Mukumbarí was added with the new building from September 2014 . This describes the "place where the sun goes down".

Utilization problems

With a capacity of 60 people per gondola, the railway would allow the transport of 2,000 people per day, but due to the supply crisis in the country, only 480 foreign tourists could be transported within six months of the opening. According to media reports, 2,000 tourists visited the Meridabahn every day in the first week of 2020. However, such numbers should be treated with caution.

Prices

Newly built mountain station on Pico Espejo

The prices for use differ according to the nationality of the customers. When it opened in 2016, Venezuelans paid a rather symbolic price of 3,500 bolivares (less than $ 1 at the time ), while foreign tourists had to pay a price of $ 50. This requires payment with a credit card from which the amount is billed in US dollars.

In connection with the economic crisis in Venezuela , prices were constantly adjusted to inflation in the following years . In August 2019, the normal trip for Venezuelan citizens cost 15,000 bolivares, the price for foreign citizens remained at 50 US dollars. Valid identification must be presented to purchase a ticket.

See also

Web links

Commons : Meridabahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 60-ATW Mérida - Pico Espejo | Referencias. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Teleféricos | Teleférico de Mérida | INGD - Page 21 - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Barinitas 8 ° 35 '28.3 "  N , 71 ° 8' 29.8"  W.
  4. ↑ a b La Montaña 8 ° 34  '29.8 " N , 71 ° 6' 58.8"  W.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g Dm wir199 English 160404 view. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b La Aguada 8 ° 33 '54.2 "  N , 71 ° 5' 23"  W.
  7. ↑ a b c Loma Redonda 8 ° 32 '39.5 "  N , 71 ° 4' 35.9"  W.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g Sistema Teleférico de Mérida Mukumbarí. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b c Pico Espejo 8 ° 31 '52.9 "  N , 71 ° 3' 13.1"  W.
  10. ↑ Alberteloyin Ocd Resteem • 2 Years Ago: Mukumbari: where the sun sleeps. February 23, 2018, accessed February 5, 2020 .
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g Garaventa is building the longest aerial tramway in the world in four sections over Mérida. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Teleférico de Mérida - Page 7 - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b c d Teleféricos | Teleférico de Mérida | INGD - Page 63 - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  14. ↑ a b c El teleférico más largo del mundo - Hechos Criollos. May 12, 2016, accessed February 5, 2020 (Spanish).
  15. ↑ EXPOSICIÓN DEL TELEFÉRICO DE MERIDA 2012 VENEZUELA. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Teleférico de Mérida / Historia. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Teleférico de Mérida / Historia. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Teleféricos | Teleférico de Mérida | INGD - Page 63 - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Teleférico de Mérida - Page 4 - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Report in Diario de los Andes on the Méridabahn from August 14, 2008 (Spanish language)
  21. ↑ a b Venezuela owes the Swiss 13 million for the record cable car , Sunday newspaper, May 14, 2017
  22. ↑ Teleféricos | Teleférico de Mérida | INGD - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Teleférico de Mérida - Page 12 - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  24. ^ New building at Pico Espejo , report in the International Cable Car Review of December 19, 2012, accessed on November 30, 2016
  25. ↑ Gondola Project: TELEFÉRICO DE MÉRIDA RECONSTRUCTION. February 23, 2012, accessed February 5, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Teleférico de Mérida se inaugurará en 2016 ( Memento of the original of April 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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.ultimasnoticias.com.ve
  27. ↑ Teleféricos | Teleférico de Mérida | INGD - Page 20 - SkyscraperCity. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  28. ↑ Kamov KA-32 start n takeoff. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  29. ↑ El primer Chourio: Trabajos de ubicación de las Cabinas del Teleférico de Mérida (photo: Leonardo León). In: @chourio (Twitter). March 10, 2012, accessed February 5, 2020 (Spanish).
  30. ↑ SI Ropeways International: logistically advanced in other dimensions. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  31. ↑ a b www 20minuten ch, 20minutes, 20min.ch: Garaventa is waiting for 13 million from Venezuela. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Boris Herrmann: Lifted off. Venezuela celebrates its world's largest cable car. And in Austria the makers are waiting for their money. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of May 8, 2017, p. 8.
  33. ↑ Teleférico Mukumbarí de Mérida registró una afluencia de 2,000 turistas en primera semana del 2020. January 5, 2020, accessed on February 5, 2020 .
  34. ↑ Tarifas del Teleférico de Mérida Mukumbarí - Horario ( Memento of the original of October 17, 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. , Operator website, Spanish language, accessed November 30, 2016 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.telefericodemerida.travel
  35. ↑ Ventel CA: #RECUERDA || Para adquirir tus entradas en @Mukumbari debes presentar tu documento de identidad. In: @VENTEL_CA (Twitter). December 5, 2019, accessed February 5, 2020 (Spanish).

Coordinates: 8 ° 31 '51.71 "  N , 71 ° 3' 15.59"  W.