Columns and Cable Car Arm

A Cable Car system to cross a 100m span of Dales Gorge. The cable will be a fixed static cable

anchored to the ground on each end and running over 5m tall columns on each side of the gorge.

The self-propelled Cable Car will have a maximum mass of 2000kg plus up to 8 adult passengers.

The components you are going to investigate:

Tension in Car Arm or vertical support cable holding passenger.

Compression in a support column on either side of the gorge.

Using a robust material selection process, you must:

.

Considering the location, weather and other local considerations, select materials for the Car Arm

and the Support columns.

.

Figure 1: An example of a ski lift cable car

.

Produce a cross section for each of the Car Arm and the Support columns that can meet the required

loads, and will have reasonable axial deflections.

Because this is going into a National Park, your solution should minimise your environmental impact