After more than 20 years of service on the Glacier chairlift in Val d'Isère, France, the ArcelorMittal wire rope has been replaced and 100% recycled. The new wire rope, at 32 tonnes and 3.8 km long, was produced by ArcelorMittal WireSolutions’ Bourg-en-Bresse site. After its reopening, the Glacier chairlift will be able to transport 3000 people per hour at a speed of 5 m/s and at an altitude of over 2800 m.

Carrying visitors up to 2800 m

Val d’Isère is a village nestled in the mountains of Savoy, near the Italian border. It is famous for its ski resort, which offers 300 km of marked runs and attracts around 1 million visitors per year, making it a great holiday destination during Christmas season and in the summer.

The Glacier chairlift was built in 2001, so after 21 years of service, the wire rope needed to be replaced.

3.8 km of high-quality compact core ropes

ArcelorMittal WireSolutions worked with the customer to provide the replacement wire rope. Our mill in Bourg-en-Bresse, France produced and supplied 6-strand ropes (with a diameter of 46 mm) offering superior strength, stretch resistance, and resistance to bending fatigue. Its compacted strands surround a central solid plastic core and ensure outstanding levels of resistance against crushing and abrasion. This solution is specifically designed for chairlifts, funitels, gondolas, and tramways.

In total, ArcelorMittal WireSolutions provided 3.8 km of ropes to customer STVI (Société de Téléphérique de Val d’Isère) through TEC Cables Bourg.  STVI chose our product thanks to its quality, reliability, and especially its very performant compacted core with a very low level of elongation in comparison with other solutions on the market. The level of stretch of our compact core ropes is extremely low at maximum 0.15% (0.15 for 100) after 1500 hours of running.

The Glacier chairlift will be in service again for the 2022-2023 ski season.

Click HERE to watch the news story - in French - made by Radio/TV Val d'Isère on the wire rope replacement operation carried out by TEC Cables Bourg.

About the chairlift

• Operating season: winter
• Capacity: 6 people
• Flow rate: 3000 p/h
• Operating speed: 5 m/s
• Travel time: 5 min 56 sec
• Downstream altitude: 2484 metres
• Upstream altitude: 2806 metres
• Vertical drop: 322 metres
• Developed length: 1780 metres
• Horizontal length: 1744 metres
• Maximum slope: 53%
• Average slope: 19%

Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications

Images:
Radio/TV Val d’Isère
Shutterstock/Gail Johnson

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Three kilometres long. Three stations. 15 cabins. 8000 users expected per day. These are the key facts about the new urban cable car in Toulouse, France - the longest one in the country - that opened in May 2022. ArcelorMittal WireSolutions contributed to the project by supplying 55 tonnes of innovative Whisper® ropes.

Making the city more breathable

The city officials were looking for a sustainable solution to relieve traffic and make Toulouse more breathable. The Téléo cable car is clean, energy efficient, quiet, and blends into the landscape.

Thanks to this cable car, users are able to travel three times faster to major facilities in the south of the city (Paul-Sabatier University, Oncopole site, Rangueil hospital). The trip now takes about ten minutes compared to the 30-minute drive when travelling by car.

Optimising passenger comfort

For the Téléo cable car, WireSolutions, part of ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions, supplied 55 tonnes of Whisper® rope in a diameter of 49 mm. The ropes, produced in the French mill of Bourg-en-Bresse, were supplied in February 2021 to the customer (POMA) who has been buying ArcelorMittal wire ropes for more than 50 years. ArcelorMittal Whisper® rope provides better longevity and less vibration, making Téléo a silent mode of transportation and optimising passenger comfort.

The technology behind Whisper®

Highly reliable, Whisper® is a new rope design that reduces vibration and noise levels. The compacted rope is composed of 6 strands, with plastic in between, which enable the outer circumference of Whisper® to offer a smooth interface between the rope and sheaves, clamps, and rollers. Less vibration means a significant reduction in maintenance costs for the cable car. Moreover, the sheaves wear less than on a conventional wire rope.

Whisper® is particularly recommended for intensive use equipment that operates 24/7, not only for urban applications, but also for mountain or tourism applications.

Currently, ArcelorMittal is one of the only two wire rope suppliers able to provide this kind of product.

Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications

Images:
© Tisseo Ingénierie - Airimage

Related link(s)

ArcelorMittal WireSolutions - Ropes website

Téléphérique de Toulouse Téléo

With more than 6 million visitors each year*, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most visited monuments in the world. The east pillar visitor lift is now equipped with ArcelorMittal’s Corzal® coated 6-strand compacted ropes, enabling visitors from all around the world to ascend (and descend!) this iconic structure to enjoy the magic of Paris. The ropes were provided by WireSolutions’ Bourg-en-Bresse plant.

103 000 kilometres up and down each year

Since 1899, visitors have been able to safely access the floors of the Eiffel Tower by taking the lifts to enjoy the views of Paris. The lifts, which are vital to the monument, are subject to some harsh treatment, and their annual journeys combined are equal to travelling two and a half times around the world (or 103 000 kilometres). Working with customer SETE (Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel), ArcelorMittal is extremely proud that the east pillar visitor lift is now equipped with Corzal® ropes from ArcelorMittal’s WireSolutions business division.

High-performance ropes for demanding applications

The ropes provided for the project have a solid compacted core in polypropylene (patented by ArcelorMittal) with a finishing in Corzal®. Additionally, the manufacturing process and know-how of the Bourg-en-Bresse plant make this product unique on the market.

Corzal® is a high-performance, durable alloy offering many advantages:

• 95% zinc and 5% aluminium alloy coating. The addition of aluminium to the zinc-only galvanising coating provides corrosion resistance which protects 3 times longer than a zinc-only coating.
• It requires a thinner coating than a galvanised coating to give the same corrosion protection.
• No alteration of the wire product after bending
• Perfect coating adherence even after bending

A long-time collaboration

ArcelorMittal has been working for many years with SETE - Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel. When the east pillar visitor lift required new ropes, they naturally turned to ArcelorMittal to provide a high-performance product with quick delivery and Made-in-France quality as the last rope manufacturer in the country.

For this specific project, ArcelorMittal supplied 10 rope reels (with a length of 510 metres each and a total weight of 10 tonnes), but new orders will come later this year to replace the ropes on other lifts.

*in a non-COVID context

Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia

Images:
ArcelorMittal

Related link(s)