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THE WORLD & ITS MARKETS LEITNER-NEWS 2 October 2006 Innovative public transportation system for Asian metropolis Hong Kong’s bicable gondola opens The longest bicable gondola ever built by LEITNER was recently commissioned in Hong Kong. It offers fast and conv enient access to Ngong Ping, a tourism center where among other things a 26-meter-high statue of a seated Buddha is located. The 5.7 km line is divited into two stages, which link the residential area of Tung Chung with Hong Kong International Airport and the district of Ngong Ping in the mountainous outback of Lantau Island. In the last few years Lantau Island, once the location of poor fishing villages, has been modernized with a number of major infrastructure projects relating to the construction of Hong Kong’s new international airport on an adjoining artificial island. The modernization process includes construction of the bicable gondola, which is designed to bring more visitors to the gigantic seated Tian Tan Buddha and to a nearby village with its various cultural and spiritual attractions and choices of entertainment. Today the gondola ride, with its Kong metro. For them the key arguments in favor of the ropeway were its low environmental impact and ability to harmonize with the scenery and existing and international tourist attractions. The construction work in the Asian metropolis was not always panoramic views, is in itself a infrastructure. The large glass tourist attraction. facade of the lower terminal at 1,400 - meter - long The NGONG PING 360, as the gondola is called, is a highlight in Hong Kong’s sophisticated public transport network. To cope with the hilly terrain in the city, the Hong Kong authorities have invested in other innovative Tung Chung was specifically designed to match the architecture of the adjoining metro station. The gondola is not run by MTR, however, but by Skyrail- ITM (Hong Kong), a professional operating company for ropeways span above the sea easy, and a twin-rotor Kamov helicopter had to be shipped specially from Europe for the public transport erection of the solutions in the past, including Technical Description ropeway. helicopter The was esca- 2 Drive stations Airport Island Station needed in order 2 Return station/Rope tension Tung Chung Terminal and Ngong Ping Terminal lators and moving Inclined length 5828 m to penetrate the walkways. Total number of towers 8 towers number The LEITNER Total number of vehicles <strong>11</strong>7 4 till 7 and the Capacity of a vehicle 17 bicable gondola has been Transport capacity 3500 p/h mediate station complete inter- Operation speed 7,0 m/s financed by Power of the main drive 6 x 420 kW Nei Lak Shan. the MTR Corporation, which drawing in the Track rope diameter 70 mm Fourthermore, Hauling rope diameter 42 mm Garage location Tung Chung Terminal owns the Hong ropes over the sea was also a logistical problem, and ultimately ships had to be used to pull the <strong>11</strong>0-tonheavy rope across the sea with the area closed to other shipping. As the airport is located nearby a rope had to be spanned in order to warn airtraffic. Some of the construction sites were only accessible along narrow footpaths, and for the erection crews it was a two-hour walk to reach tower number four. The close vicinity of the airport also meant that warning ropes had to be slung between the terminals and towers. In addition, the work was significantly impeded by the tropical humid climate, with frequent rainfall and dense mist. Today Hong Kong’s NGONG PING 360 is a calling card in the Asian region for LEITNER and for the intelligent use of modern ropeway systems for public transport applications. Panoramic view at the new International Airport Tung Chung Terminal in the residential area of Hong Kong Passengers look forward to the pleasure trip Return Station on Airport Island Ngong Ping Terminal and the 26-meter-high seated Buddha
3 ROPEWAY HISTORY & THE PIONEER October 2006 LEITNER-NEWS First chairlift in Italy launched a successful career Col Alt & Erich Kostner: two names that made ropeway history On December 24th 1947 - Christmas Eve 59 years ago, employees of the Italian Ministry of Transport completed the acceptance tests on the first Italian chairlift in Corvara in Val Badia. The single-seater chairlift was planned by Erich Kostner, winter tourism pioneer and spiritual father of the world-famous Alta Badia ski area, and built by LEITNER. The history of the chairlift connecting Corvara with Col Alt is also the history of the economic development of Val Badia and its tourism industry over the last sixty years – a history of successes and achievements that are inseparably linked with the name of Erich Kostner, and a history in which LEITNER has been privileged to play a major role. At the age of 85, Erich Kostner is still very active today wherever developments in winter tourism are involved. It all began, way back in 1947, “The people were looking to escape from poverty.” with the commissioning of Italy’s first single chairlift. It was built to replace a sledge lift, which had been operating since 1938 with a capacity that had previously been adequate for the small number of winter tourists on the mountain at the time. In the following years and decades, Kostner did everything possible to equip the whole area with the latest types of chairlifts. “The people were looking to escape from poverty,” says Erich Kostner, “and it was clear that the future belonged to tourism rather than to agriculture, which could hardly be profitable at such an altitude. So I set to work on the lifts, while others concentrated on the accommodations and others went into retail for the equipment. That got things moving in the village.” In this mood of fresh optimism, Erich Kostner came up with the idea of a new transport system to serve Col Alt. He signed a contract with Karl Hölzl, who was collaborating with the LEITNER Company at the time, for the planning and the engineering, while Kostner himself handled the structures, including construction of the towers, and installation of the ropeway systems. The wooden towers that Kostner decided to construct for cost efficient reasons are probably absolutely unique in the history of ropeway A unique feature in the history of ropeways: Erich Kostner’s timber towers Erich Kostner was born in Corvara (Bozen) in 1921. His career in the fi eld of winter tourism, which is still not yet over, began with the construction of a single-seater chairlift to Col Alt in 1947. Over the years he has been the moving power behind the construction of some sixty ropeways, most of them built by LEITNER. These installations serve a total of 63 km of ski trails and are located in a ski interconnect with some 200 lifts and ropeways covering the ski areas of Val Badia, Val Gardena, Val di Fassa, Val Livinallongo and the Marmolada. Erich Kostner was also responsible for the construction of about 20 km of roads linking the heights of Col Alto, Piz La Ila, Piz Sorega, Pralongià and Boè with the val- Lift capacity on commissioning: 158 persons per hour In the coming winter season skiers will be using the new detachable 8-seater gondola for the ride from Corvara to Col Alt. This is a replacement for the quad chairlift built by LEITNER in 1990. The gondola is state of the art in terms of the quality of the ride, safety and reliability. It will be in operation in summer and winter, serving a site of historical importance for the tourism industry. At a line speed of 6 m/s and a line length of 970 m, the new gondola has an hourly system capacity of 2,400 passengers. Erich Kostner Bio Sketch ley fl oor. In addition, he built two mountain lodges and a mountain refuge in the Vallon area at an altitude of 2530 meters above sea level. The new 8-seater gondola Today modern steel towers are used 1947 – Italy’s first single-seater chairlift In 1952 Kostner became a founding member of the ropeway group within the Italian National Transport Operators Federation (FENIT) and in 1953 he established the Corvara tourism association. In 1972, together with the late Gianni Marzola, he created the famous Superski Dolomiti, and two years later he played a leading role in the creation of the Alta Badia ropeway operators association and in 1983 of the Corvara - La Villa - S. Cassiano ski interconnect. Finally, in 1987 he set up the Italian Association of Ropeway Operators (ANEF) and was its Chairman until 1991. On 1 June 1996 the Italian President, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, made him a “Cavaliere del Lavoro” in recognition of his great achievements. engineering. During the first weeks of operation at Christmas time in 1947, a transport capacity of 158 persons per hour was achieved with the new chairlift. But Kostner refused to rest on his laurels and therefore he decided that the lift needed active marketing. His ideas showed once again that he had a strong entrepreneur ial talent: “We had to attract the public to the lift, and at first that wasn’t so easy. So we started to plan various activities. In the summer of 1948, for example, we organized a big open-air concert at Col Alt complete with a famous band from Bozen. That was a big attraction for the region, and to get to the concert there was no other alternative but to use Italy’s first single-seater chairlift commissioned 60 years ago the chairlift!” As a result more and more curious people came to enjoy the exciting ride on the LEITNER single chairlift, which at this time was an incredible experience. In the early days there were still a few weak points in the system such as problems with the power supply. The power cable was actually laid from the Kostner’s house. A few years earlier, Erich Kostner’s father Franz had constructed a small power plant in order to provide Corvara and the surrounding areas with electricity. At first only a small portion of the power generated was intended for the chairlift. The result, as Erich Kostner likes to tell, was that there was not enough power to operate the lift with a full load. To solve the problem they simply diverted power from the households in Kolfuschg, a neighbouring village, because it took them some time to get to Corvara and by then the shortage was over. Be that as it may, the chairlift built in 1947 remains a pioneering accomplishment, and it was also the first step in establishing the Alta Badia ski area, which today enjoys an international reputation as one of the gems of Dolomiti Superski – the unique ski interconnect that also goes back to the idea and work of Erich Kostner in collaboration with the late Gianni Marzola. Shortly before its sixtieth anniversary, the Col Alt chairlift, which was modernized in 1956, 1978 and 1990, is being replaced with a new LEITNER 8-passengers gondola, and work is now moving quickly ahead. The new installation will have a system capacity of 2400 persons per hour and will offer a modern standard of comfort and safety. This is the last achievement to date of the untiring Erich Kostner, who can still be found at the construction sites in Corvara and Col Alt – where everything began sixty years ago and where Erich Kostner is still writing ropeway history today.
Page 1: LEITNER-NEWS October 2006 Reinhold
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