MAN Truck & Bus
To the world's
highest cable car
United forces MAN trucks belonging to South Tyrolean company Moosmair transporting the cable drums in tandem. © Roland P. Poschung
DESIGN
The Ferrari amongst cable cars
Higher, faster, more luxurious: the gondolas on the Matterhorn Glacier Ride cable car were designed by Pininfarina, an Italian design studio for automotive brands like Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. It recently crowned the new Istanbul airport with a futuristic control tower. The designers have pampered passengers on the Matterhorn cable car with glass and glitter: even the floors of the passenger cabins offer a clear view of the mountain panorama, four of the 25 carriages are studded internally and externally with crystals. The cable cars can carry up to 2,000 passengers per hour up to the mountain station at a height of 3,821 metres. It takes nine minutes to travel to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (Klein Matterhorn).
TRANSPORT
Trucks in Tandem
Many loads can only be moved with united forces. This also applies to the 60-ton cable drums for the three-cable installation. South Tyrolean company Moosmair transported them to the mountain station from the south side of the Klein Matterhorn. Two powerful MAN trucks served as load carriers up to the material depot at Laghi delle Cime Bianche. The entire weight of the rope drum was too great. Each truck therefore loaded a smaller drum weighing 30 tons. The vehicles fought their way up the mountain in tandem and mastered the transport in inaccessible terrain despite extremely steep sections.
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Construction at dizzying heights This platform on the Klein Matterhorn was prepared using five tons of explosives. © Zermatt Bergbahnen AG
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Teamwork The company Moosmair first had to design and construct a steel linkage to enable the heavy cable to be carried in tandem by two connected MAN trucks. © Roland P. Poschung
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Three-cable installation of superlatives Ton was the most important unit of measure during construction. Hundreds of tons of steel, concrete, cement, earth and rock had to be moved. © Roland P. Poschung
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Difficult to reach Initially the only way to supply materials to the site on the Klein Matterhorn was by helicopter. A temporary cable car for materials was subsequently erected specifically for the construction. © Zermatt Bergbahnen AG
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Wind and weather Even if they sometimes delayed construction – the highest three-cable installation in the world went into operation in the autumn. © Zermatt Bergbahnen AG
TECHNOLOGY
Major construction site on the mountain
The ton was the most important unit when constructing this three-cable installation of superlatives. Hundreds of tons of steel, concrete, cement, earth and rock had to be moved to ram the installation's pillars and buildings into the mountain. 145 individuals from 38 different companies were involved in the largest building project in Zermatt Bergbahnen AG's history. They worked with cranes, excavators, drilling machines and dynamite. Helicopters initially flew the materials onto the mountain, a material cable car was subsequently erected specifically for such transport. It heaved the construction material to the high alpine mountain station via a 650 square metre interim depot on the Laghi delle Cime Bianche in Italy. The construction cost a total of over 45 million euros and the construction period was two and a half years.
7.5 METRES
per second is the speed the gondolas travel on their way to the mountain station.
3.821 METRES
above sea level sits the mountain station for the new cable cars.
WEATHER
In icy storms
Daytime temperatures down to minus 30 degrees, wind speeds of 270 kilometres per hour, heavy snowfall and thick fog are not uncommon on the Klein Matterhorn. The construction crews had to work in expedition equipment to protect themselves from the extreme weather conditions. They also had to avoid overextending their strength: Low oxygen levels in the high air meant that personnel at the highest construction site in Europe could only achieve around 60 to 80 percent of their normal performance. Construction materials were also tested to their limits in the icy mountain air. The concrete had to be prepared using hot water and not be allowed to cool down, since concrete work is only possible at plus five degrees Celsius. Even construction machinery had to be technically adapted for use in extreme pressure and temperature conditions. But even if wind and weather sometimes delayed construction – the highest three-cable installation in the world went into operation in the autumn of 2018.
Energy-sapping Low oxygen levels in the high air meant that personnel at the highest construction site in Europe could only achieve around 60 to 80 percent of their normal performance. © Roland P. Poschung
Text Roland P. Poschung / Felix Enzian
Photos Zermatt Bergbahnen AG (Header)
