Dover's proposal of a cable car system is not a new idea. There used to be a colliery along Shakespeare cliff leading round to the Admiralty pier. Cable cars(or trucks) were used to transport coal between the top and base of the cliffs.
These photos show a much longer aerial cable stem than what we have been presented with. This ran all the way from East langdon all the way through the cliffs down to the port to load coal onto ships. Thats over a mile by estimation!!view of the ropeway that transported coal from Tilmanstone to Dover Harbour - here you can see the twin tunnels in the cliff face through which the ropeway was threaded.
(thanks to J Vaughan)
I apologies for the terrible formatting!!
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ReplyDeleteInteresting pics Jim. This is something I am looking at for my project
ReplyDeleteV.interesting. I didn't know anything about it. Wonder if the twin tunnel entrances are still visible?
ReplyDeleteJim W,
ReplyDeleteThe (Dover Pride) proposal for a cable car was, to say the least, ill conceived and appeared to be poorly researched by the consultant who prepared the study.
The location, over the top of the Gateway Flats, is particularly inappropriate considering the aerodynamic aspects. You will note that the coal cable cars have no obstructions to influence wind dynamics.
Of course comparison to a human cable car and that of one carrying an inert material is not really appropriate as the working/design parameters are considerably different for each.
It was disappointing to read the consultants study as they had failed to make any comparison with the only other similar cable car in Europe, the one at Barcelona. This takes tourists from a harbour location up to a (Napoleonic?) fortification.
Good Luck with your studies.
Graham M
(retired Civil Engineer from major railway projects HS1, Thameslink etc)