Automation And Safety For Spectacular Cableway

Cortina D’Ampezzo, one of the most well-renowned ski resorts in the Italian Dolomites mountains, is carrying out a sustainable renovation of its Faloria cableway which connects the city centre with Mount Faloria, at an altitude of 2 120 m, hub of the ski slopes in the winter months.

Nidec ASI, a specialist in power control systems, will design, construct and supply an electric transmission system with ultimate generation SMART architecture that will incorporate the automation and safety features of the three stations and four cable cars, enabling integrated diagnostics of the entire system both from the local supervision station and remotely. The cableway will also be equipped with an innovative backbone radio circuit using wi-fi, with hand-over management of moving vehicles similar to that of railway technologies, in order to enable communication between the stations, the automated vehicles and the safety features.

The project by Nidec ASI also plans to significantly expand the bandwidth for integrated diagnostics and on-board video surveillance, thanks to closed-circuit television cameras at the stations and in the four cable cars, to guarantee passenger safety, and at the back and front of the cars in order to monitor the route.

The Faloria cableway covers a difference in altitude of over 900 m and has had three stations since it was built in 1939: the lower station at 1 230 m altitude in Cortina, the midway station in Mandres (at 1500 m), and  the station at the summit which is reached with a final surge of 646 m in a single span. In this last part of the ascent, the cable car runs parallel to the mountain and passes just metres from the rock, offering to passengers a breathtaking view of the Dolomites.

Dominique Llonch, CEO of Nidec ASI and Chairman of Nidec Industrial Solutions, said: “We are particularly proud of this project designed and constructed in Italy, which will contribute to providing a state-of-the-art cableway to the local population and to tourists who, after this period of lockdown, are keen to visit the spectacular landscapes of this area. And we are proud to do so while reducing the impact on the Alpine ecosystem to a minimum and contributing to the relaunching of the tourism sector”.

Nidec ASI has over 600 installations worldwide facilitating the introduction of more sustainable modes of transport, including the Moscow cable car – inaugurated during the last football World Cup – that connects the Luzhniki Stadium to the scenic viewing point at Moscow State University.