Norsjö aerial tramway

Norsjö aerial tramway is a 13.2 kilometre long aerial tramway (cable car) between Örträsk and Mensträsk in the Norsjö Municipality in Sweden.

Norsjö aerial tramway went in service for passenger traffic in 1989 as a tourist attraction. It is a section of the longest ropeway conveyor in the world at 96 km, built in the 1940s by the predecessors of Boliden AB to transport buckets of ore from Kristineberg, Lycksele to Boliden. Between 1943 and 1987 this ropeway moved 12 million tons of ore concentrates containing copper, lead, zinc, sulfur, silver and gold.

In technical terms, the Norsjö aerial tramway is a bi-cable gondola lift with detachable cabins suspended from a track rope and moved by a haul rope. The cabins can each carry four people at a speed of 10 km/hour, taking 1h 45mins to ride one way. 3 km of the ride is above lakes and streams.

The shortage of fuel and rubber during World War II made road transport of ore increasingly expensive for Boliden AB. With a straight-line distance of around 90 kilometers, the copper mine in Kristinberg was farthest from its main facility in Boliden. In addition to the rationed imports, steel and even concrete were precious commodities at the time. So while a couple of railway solutions, including a narrow gauge railway, were evaluated the ropeway came out on top because of its favourable construction material requirements.

Planning started in 1941, the initial idea was run the ropeway straight between Boliden and Kristineberg, with supports made from arsenic-treated wood to keep construction costs at a minimum. To make the most of the investment, however, it was decided to run the line across a number of newly discovered ore bodies to allow loading onto the ropeway once exploration was commenced - intermediate stations were required around every 13 km in any case. Reinforced concrete supports were chosen in lieu of wood, making them substantially longer-lasting with less maintenance. The supports and mechanical systems were identical to the 42 km Forsby-Köping limestone cableway completed in 1941 in middle Sweden, which served as a proof-of-concept for the enormous technological undertaking.

...
Wikipedia