Information Center for Ropeway Studies

The Intersection of Mechanical Engineering and Rope: Applied Mechanics for Real-World Applications

The Information Center for Ropeway Studies is the largest public special collection on the history, theory, design and operation of rope systems in the US. The Center, est. 1991 and guided by an Advisory Board of industry members, supports research on ropeway technology:

* Design, function, materials

* People moving - Ski lifts, urban gondolas etc.

* Materials transport

The 2025 AWRF PIE & Technical Summit was held in Denver, Colorado this year. I attended for the Information Center for Ropeway Studies, Colorado School of Mines, and learned much more about the industry. This was a great opportunity to have conversations with the vendors and see their displays of wire and synthetic rope, rope fixtures and related materials.

The presentations were very informative, my favorite being Timothy Klein's talk on the dramatic Arecibo Telescope failure. (I now know what "socketing" is and why it's critical). I gave my own short presentation on our Center's resources on the technologies of rope.

Unfortunately my photos didn't make it, but here are some random ropeway pics:

Wire rope eye splice, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.

Bundles of synthetic rope, CC0 1.0 Public Domain Universal.

Employees of the Overton Brothers wire rope manufacturers, c1940, CC0 1.0 Public Domain Universal. (Just for fun.)

The 12th International Ropeway Congress, sponsored by OITAF, in Vancouver BC, Canada June 17-21 2024: I attended representing the  Information Center for Ropeway Studies, Colorado School of Mines. The Congress had a wide variety of informative presentations; I expanded my understanding of ropeways and thoroughly enjoyed discussions with colleagues -- Lisa Dunn

Conference sessions included: 

Development of ropeways in the urban and tourist sector

Operation of ropeways

Ropeway technology, new developments

Dimensions of sustainability.

Field trip: Grouse Mountain Skyride, overlooking Vancouver and the Pacific coastline. Cable car coming in to the Peak Chalet at the top of Grouse Mountain; Looking down at the Lower Terminal.    

Field Trip: Capilano Park, Vancouver. Suspension foot bridge over the Capilano River; one of the seven suspended bridges of the Park's Treetop Adventure.

Report on the 12th International OITAF Congress in Vancouver