Ropeway

Erection of haulage gear including endless ropeways, lifts and haulage engines. 

Unloading 155mm propellant charges at Farleigh Down in the autumn of 1943. Virtually all movements were now done via the tunnel belt and the aerial ropeway saw only intermittent use. Note the trucks adapted with end plates for work on the tram-creeper. 

Farleigh Down Sidings, with the aerial ropeway in operation during the summer of 1941. The pit in the foreground is the unfinished motor-room for the tunnel tram-creeper. After completion of the tunnel, the handrails were replaced by an open-fronted corrugated iron shed. 

A view of the aerial ropeway transfer station during a busy day at Farleigh... 

Laying track for endless ropeway systems above and below ground. 

A unique view of the aerial ropeway at Monkton Farleigh, taken from inside the transit shed at No. 20 District. Several skips are approaching on the right, and No. 19 loading platform is visible in the left background. 

Challenge In all systems with rope operation Hke ropeways or mining shafts it is usually necessary to visually check the ropes regularly for external damages. The rope has to be watched by several employees at very low speed while they are trying to detect damages. This inspection is very time-consuming and the inspection results are often neither reliable nor documented. 

Hoist Room Excavation Not required 24 weeks total including ropeway... 

Exposure to winters combined with potential product contamination on the hoist ropes has swayed recent installations towards enclosed ropeways to prevent rope slippage. Admittedly, a lot of the issue is the fear of the unknown due to limited available references. An added benefit of the ropeways has been permanent stair access to the upper headframe during sinking, construction and operational activities. Figure 3 shows headframe elevations complete with A-frame legs, hoist houses and ropeways. 

This paper summarizes the design parameters, analytical methodology, fabrication process, and erection methodology for A-Frame structures, constructed of tapered steel box sections, in excess of 80 meters in height and used with ground mounted friction hoisting systems in Canada. The paper also evaluates alternative considerations for shop fabrication and erection of components weighing up to 200 tonnes, as well as the use of unique enclosed ropeway structures. 

The design and installation of a ground mounted Koepe hoist, the first in Canada, provides easier access for maintenance and reduces equipment mass within the headframe structure. Hoisting ropes placed within a rope-way enclosure mitigate risk associated with ice build-up and rope shp. The ropeway structure spans from the hoist house to the sheave deck levels of the A-Frame. It is constructed as a cladded box truss, complete with access stairs, is supported by a pin at the hoist house roof and is permitted to shde vertically (up or down) along the A-Frame structure. 

The loading and service (deflection) limits used in the analysis of the A-Frame structures due to hoisting, rope breaking, wind, earthquake, ropeway loading and self-weight are outlined in... 

Ropeway to A-Frame interface. The ropeway structure is supported by a pin at the hoist house roof and permitted to slide vertically (up or down) along the A-Frame structure with two levels of Fabreeka Pad assemblies and a lower lateral restraint The Fabreeka Pads are designed as sliding bearings but also allow some rotation where rope gallery is attached to A-Frame. Pads at the lower connection absorb lateral loads from both east-west and north-south directions and at the upper connection, pads are placed to resist north-south lateral load only, and movement is allowed in east-west direction by leaving a space. 

Fabreeka pads (size and thickness) were designed based on Fabreeka Structural requirements. At the lower connection a plate, with a vertical slotted hole, and pin system limits the vertical movement to 100 mm in either direction md also restrcuns the ropeway from puHing away from A-frame. The connection system is designed for a tornado load equal to 2.2 times the 1 in 50 year wind load specified in the NBCC (2010). 

Figure 9. Ropeway module being lifted into...

The ropeway structure complete with access stairs, electrical and mechanical services was preassembled in modules and lifted into place between the headframe and the hoist house (Figure 9). 

At the time of construction, the headframe at Allan was the world s tallest A-frame structure standing approximately 95m high. The erection of the building was planned with safety in mind using techniques that allowed for pre-assembly on the ground minimizing aerial work. The new headframe was built to stand above the old similarly to other projects. Immediately adjacent to the heaframe is the hoist house and an enclosed ropeway connected the two. This was put it to protect the ropes and the hoist from the harsh weather conditions found in Saskatchewan. 

In many instances the material is removed from these storage bins by similar methods, often being transferred over long distances by conveyors or overhead ropeways. 

Safety devices have to be provided to prevent vehicles that run on rails from running away. No ropeway shall be used unless it meets the requirements of the Quarries (Ropeways and Vehicles) Regulations 1958. 

NOTE The above schedule does not claim to be exhaustive. There are many statutes requiring more frequency but less thorough inspections inspections and tests before commissioning and some requiring users to draw up their own schenrtes of camination and implement them (e.g. Quarries (Ropeways ar>d Vehicles) Regulations 1958, Reg. 14). There are also many statutory report forms additkmal to those specified above, mainly in connection with particular certificates of exemption. 

Ropeways are commonly used for skiing and sightseeing venues and urban transportation. The swing of ropeway carriers is easily induced by wind loading, rendering them inoperable for wind speeds in excess of about 15 m/s. This problem has attracted much research attention in the past few decades. The research work has primarily focused on two methods to reduce swing that involve a dynamic vibration absorber and a gyroscope. 

Figure 8.66 shows the theoretical prediction of the frequency response of a ropeway gondola for six passengers (mi = 1000 kg, Zi = Zi = 4 m) with an optimally tuned dynamic absorber. In this calculation, the damping ratio C of the gondola is assumed to be 1%. In the case of a gondola without an absorber, the maximum value of the normalized amplitude Oi/Ost) is 50. 

Based on the theoretical predictions and the experiments described above, in 1995 dynamic absorbers were installed on chair lifts in Japan. This is the first application of dynamic absorbers for ropeway carriers in the world. An... 

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