What will happen to Skyrail’s retiring gondolas?
More than 100 retiring Skyrail gondolas will come down from the 7.km line, but where will they go? Chairman Ken Chapman explains.
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Far North residents could get the chance to own a part of the region’s history after the boss of Skyrail revealed he envisioned retiring cable cars in locals’ backyards.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway formally unveiled its $85m plans to redevelop its assets at a special ceremony on Tuesday at its Smithfield base.
As the Chapman family’s operation prepared to celebrate 30 years of Skyrail, the attraction’s assets, which had reached 100,000 hours of use, will now be replaced, including gondolas, lines and stations.
The towers holding up the structure will remain in place to minimise construction disturbance to Barron Gorge National Park in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
While construction of the redevelopment won’t start until next year, Mr Chapman said the network’s 114 gondolas would eventually come down and be recycled.
“Well, do you want to buy one? They’d make a great souvenir,” he said.
“You know, what a thing to have in your backyard. We’ve got a year yet, but we’ll talk about it then.
“Everything is going to get recycled. We’re very big on that, we’ve got a quarter of a decade of continuous year on year sustainability improvements.”
Mr Chapman said the self-funded project would match the initial $37m cost of building Skyrail three decades ago, after factoring in inflation.
Prior to the expiry of the asset’s infrastructure, speculators questioned whether the business would reinvest.
“Yes, it’s a massive investment … we were very confident 30 years ago that this was going to make a massive difference to our community. And I hope the community of the town think it’s worth it,” Mr Chapman said.
As the state works towards its Destination 2045 tourism strategy and Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032, Mr Chapman’s message to the government was “it matters that you do it right”.
“It matters that you look after the environment. It matters that you put the experience first.”
The upgrade to Skyrail’s infrastructure is set to be delivered by specialist firm Dopplemayr, which manufactures ropeway systems, and will deploy about 30 on-site crew during construction.
Dopplemayr Australia general manager Shaun Turner said the new and improved structure would feature larger, more accessible gondolas with electric gearbox-less systems, and a cable with sensors for instantaneous feedback of potential issues.
Mr Turner said he expected the new assets to also have a 30-year life, which could only be delivered with specialist skills.
“If you go to any regular building contractor and ask them to take away 200 tonnes of steel at top station without road access, and also install another 200 tonnes of steel up the top there, they’re going to have some questions on how to do it,” he said.
“So that’s the specialty – getting in. I think our specialty is also doing it without too much of a footprint.
“We’ve got the special trades and tools that can do this without impacting on the larger environment.”
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Originally published as What will happen to Skyrail’s retiring gondolas?
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