When the idea of the ferris wheel for Mann Island came about everybody was happy, but some suggested something a little more original- something that could be uniquely Liverpool (as a UK city). Well how about Cable cars?? They could do the following:

1) Carry people from PSDA over the Strand to Albert Dock.
2) Carry people over the Mersey as well (superior to a bridge as it is cheaper and shields people from the elements.)
3) Would be iconic for a UK city
4) Would be a big hit with tourists who could do some real site-seeing as well as being used by commuters within Merseyside.

Check out my renderings (Originals: first pic by Bunnyman, other by Dave (Liverpool Pictorial.co.uk)- cheers guys.)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/rob*******1/cablecar3.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/rob*******1/cablecar4.jpg

Your amature style rendering is an artform in its own right.

Don't ever change it. :cheers:

Oh and I love the way you've got two sharks circling Accura. :laugh:

Here's an idea, how about two giant slingshots either side of the river and two giant crash mats adjacent to each of them? You could get from Wirral to Liverpool and back again in no time and have a lot of fun doing it too. :banana:

Gareth,
I was going to include the Mersey Travel livery and comic font just for you, but I was just too damned amateurish!

Gareth,
I was going to include the Mersey Travel livery and comic font just for you, but I was just too damned amateurish!

http://img217.echo.cx/img217/4150/blabbertravel7zt.jpg

Here you go. :cheers:

Your amature style rendering is an artform in its own right.

Don't ever change it. :cheers:

Oh and I love the way you've got two sharks circling Accura. :laugh:


Blabber, bloody brilliant best laugh of the day your renders :) but please dont pick on ,poor accy boy,dont you think he has enough problems already. without being ripped apart by 2 great whites. Mind you it would bring the tourist in by the bus full, scavenging around the dock looking for accy boys body parts.

http://img217.echo.cx/img217/4150/blabbertravel7zt.jpg

Here you go. :cheers:

Gareth, I just knew you would come to love crayon yellow :)

Love it blabber, although it's a bit windy so I hope it wouldn't be too scarey. As the opportunist I am, I attach a link to the New Brighton thread I succesfully killed off with my insane idea for a Llandudno - Bootle light rail / monorail link. That includes a high level monorail between New Brighton and Bootle, which could I think compliment your own idea. I am a huge fan of cable cars, I would love to see them brought properly into use in UK towns like Sheffield and Brighton.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=177130

http://img217.echo.cx/img217/4150/blabbertravel7zt.jpg

Here you go. :cheers:

Gareth,
That's exactly what I'd intended to do. Cheers mate.

However, I have been thinking. To make this a truly memorable experience, both for tourists and commuters, perhaps a more unique design is required. One where views can be enjoyed quite literally from all perspectives!
This proto-type could be similar to the capsules used on the London Eye- except with the a transparent floor...

Liverpolitan, this design would also be more aero-dynamic!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/rob*******1/eggdome.bmp

Incidentally, I would never wish for Accura to be eaten by sharks. It is merely something I contemplate occasionally. :)

What a crap idea. It would end up like the transporter bridges and never get used. Plus having a great big wire across the Mersey kinda reminds me of the uber tall pylons which cross the Ribble...

http://img42.echo.cx/img42/4513/pylons85zz.jpg

Perhaps efforts could be made to make even the pylons look interesting- they could have interesting designs for them. One of the pylons could be a steel scultpture of a Prestonian Mutant... It could be called "Accura Preston."

God, I hate my user name. I wanna change it to just Accura. creevy changed his name!

Besides, if it works for New York...

http://www.aidan.co.uk/md/UsaNycMidtwnCablCarVw81815.jpg :cheers:

It also works for Southport.

The cable car in Southport doesn't have any commuter value as it just goes in a loop and only has one 'stop'. I remember thinking it was excellent when I was a kid though- it is well worth going on. Especially with those funny little carriages- I remember initially feeling as though I'd slip under the drop-down bar and plunge to my death. It was also kinda scary when it went over bumpy bits.

Imagine how well this could work for Liverpool. By 2015 the water front from Alexandra Tower to the far end of Kings Dock will be very built up and will be a big visitor hot-spot. A cable car would fit in brilliantly- it would look as good for Liverpool as it does for Manhatten. And it would serve a very useful function for everyone.

I would also guess that it would be cheaper to build than a bridge (or a monorail) and would add to consumer choice for Mersey crossings. In fact, it could be like the Alton Towers system and could take people to various points all around the city centre!

Imagine being able to travel over big cruise liners travelling over the Mersey!

http://p.vtourist.com/1/1363520-Swiss_cable_car_seen_from_Roosevelt_Island-New_York_City.jpg

God, I hate my user name. I wanna change it to just Accura. creevy changed his name!

We all hate it as well, how about::::::::::::::

I AM OFF, NEVER TO RETURN

Isn't Acura, as in the upmarket Honda brand spelt with only one 'c'? :?

How about 'Manc Shagger' or 'Little Tommy Leprechaun' as your new username?

Ask Jan. He's very helpful! :cheers:

Mmmmmm... Manc Shagger sounds quite nice :yes: Gimme those fit Mancunian chavettes anyday! :D

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHH!!!

God, I hate my user name. I wanna change it to just Accura. creevy changed his name!

Strange you should say that. :cheers:

A similar system to that in Alton Towers could be used around Liverpool city centre. It certainly be a big hit with tourists and would be unique for a UK city...

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/rides/transport/cable-cars.tn.jpg

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/rides/transport/skyride08tn.jpg

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/rides/transport/sky-ride-log.tn.jpg

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/rides/transport/cable-car.tn.jpg

The Sky-ride as we know it was installed in 1987. Alton Towers had Cable cars many years prior to this. The original system followed the same route as the sky-ride but only travelled from Towers Street to the area where Forbidden Valley is today. The old system was quite limited, there was a maximum capacity of 4 people, due to the gondolas & cable not being as strong as the one used today.
Due to the increasing popularity of the park and the fact a new area was planned (forbidden Valley) it was decided that a more modernised cable car system was necessary for the park. The new gondolas were designed and manufactured by Poma. The Engineering was implemented by Sir Robert McAlpine. Not only did Alton choose to upgrade the system, the decision was made to extend the cable to fountain Square where a third station was put in place, which is conveniently located close to the Towers.

The new system consists of many gondolas; each one can carry up to twelve people at once. They travel at only 4 miles per hour but it feels faster, especially when your high above the gardens! The sky ride is not so much of a ride but a means of transportation around the park with some stunning views

QUICK FACTS
Height - 200ft
Length- 1048 Metres
Duration- 300 Seconds approx
Speed- 4 MP/H
Manufacturer- Poma & Sir Robert McAlpine
Capacity per gondola- 12
Capacity per hour- 2880

http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/rides/transport/skyride.htm&h=600&w=800&sz=218&tbnid=qflJmxS8lRcJ:&tbnh=106&tbnw=141&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalton%2Btowers%2Bcable%2Bcars%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB%26sa%3DN

I dont see this as being a feasible project for the city centre... in all honesty i think you are overplaying the role of tourists in the city ( at least at the moment) Its hardly full of tourists in town!

Unless the scheme would serve a function for the local contingent it would not work as a viable project.

Doesn't quite capture my imagination either - Liverpool isn't a theme park! But if it was, we could turn St Johns Beacon into an attraction with the office bit sliding up and down at break neck speeds. I'm sure there's a ride like this somewhere

I used the Alton Towers system as an EXAMPLE. It would attract tourists, but it would also peform a very useful funtion for local people wanting to commute around the city centre and accross the Mersey.

I need to carry out some research on the system used in New York. Cable cars successfully ferry people across the Hudson River- who is to say this couldn't work well for the Mersey? After all, it would be less time consuming, and more fun than the ferry; more interesting and potentially cheaper than the underground, and almosty certainly cheaper than driving through the tunnel.

I would be interested to see what your research throws up!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/55000/images/_55671_CABLECAR150.JPG

Of course, this can be a problem. A US military aircraft on a low altitude training mission in Italy chopped the cable with the tip of its wing.

I'm sure Liverpool is defined as a low risk area when it comes to low altitude US military aircrafts.

I guess you're right Gareth. But there is always the Skycopter! :)

They'll have to look where they're going then or they'll be facing a mass murder charge. :)

I can find hardly anything on the net about cable cars >( Unfortunately the American translation of 'cable car' is a tram, so I keep ending up back atthe San Franscisco tram system :doh: - I'm surprised there isn't some nutter out there with a website about them. Oh well.

Blabbern, here is a link to a story about the Sheffield cable car idea. I don't think anything ever came of it, which is a pity......my own southern town is very hilly and I have been proselytising for cable cars ever since I read about the Sheffield scheme, but you just get laughed at. People think they are just for skiing holidays, not an ecological and fun form of public transport. I'll see if I can find any more, as there was a site with diagrams of the Sheffield propososal.

http://society.guardian.co.uk/offdiary/story/0,14093,1099065,00.html


This one will not be quick to load if you dont have broadband, Blabbern, and doesnt add a lot.

http://www.adinfo-guardian.co.uk/recruitment/forward-features/pdf/societyguardian-22-10-03.pdf


Incidentally, I suggested a cable car linking the city centre to B of the Bang on p15 of the Piccadilly Gardens thread on the Manc thread, but sadly my idea fell on stony ground and the reaction was entirely hostile:

"I had my first view of B of the Bang from there, and even from a distance I could realise how wrong I was about that. In fact, I liked it so much, I thought there were should be three or four more B of the bangs, each one bigger than the last, plotted on a line from the existing one into the city centre, terminating in one in / close to the centre, which would have lift shaft/escalators and viewing pods. Each one would get bigger than the last, so the existing one would be the smallest of them, and the final one would be more glass than metal. Perhaps a cable car could run between them, creating a new public transport link between the city centre and East Manchester"

Politan,

Thanks very much! I didn't know Sheffield had ever proposed cable cars. It does sound like an unusual, perhaps even silly idea, but as the article demonstrates it is actually very, very practical. Unfortunately, ideas like this require people to have imagination and to think laterally.

"They are quiet, pollution-free and you don't have to build bridges or buy up land to put this transport system in place," he says. "Cable cars can bypass congestion on the streets and will complement the city's bus and tram services."

He estimates that a cable system covering the city centre could be built for the cost of extending the city's Supertram service by just one mile.

Dont be so lazy and just walk...

Dont be so lazy and just walk...

across the river? :bash:

Why not?

Do you have gills Accy?

No, funnily enough I dont...

Do you have gills Accy?

Only 2 brain cells that must be well bruised :bash:

Imagine how well this could work for Liverpool. By 2015 the water front from Alexandra Tower to the far end of Kings Dock will be very built up and will be a big visitor hot-spot. A cable car would fit in brilliantly- it would look as good for Liverpool as it does for Manhatten. And it would serve a very useful function for everyone.

I would also guess that it would be cheaper to build than a bridge (or a monorail) and would add to consumer choice for Mersey crossings. In fact, it could be like the Alton Towers system and could take people to various points all around the city centre!

Imagine being able to travel over big cruise liners travelling over the Mersey!

http://p.vtourist.com/1/1363520-Swiss_cable_car_seen_from_Roosevelt_Island-New_York_City.jpg

I think you could have something there Blabber. A cable car ride not to take you over to New Brighton or Birkenhead but a route to run as you say from Alexandra Tower all the way through to the BQT (if it gets built). I think this would be a fantastic ride as you pass the three graces, over the canal, past the Albert Dock and the soon to be fantastic Kings Dock Arena complex.

There could be stops along the way. It could be mainly for tourists but I'm sure city workers would use it to travel back to their apartments.

I've been on the helecopter ride around Manhattan and it was fantastic being up in the air but still being able to look up at the tall buildings. This would be the case for the cable car as it won't be that high but high enough to have an effect on it's passengers. :cheers:

I can find hardly anything on the net about cable cars >( Unfortunately the American translation of 'cable car' is a tram, so I keep ending up back atthe San Franscisco tram system :doh: - I'm surprised there isn't some nutter out there with a website about them. Oh well.

Blabber, the link below is about the mother of all cable car rides. It goes to the top of the Aiguille Du Midi near Chamonix in the French Alps. I went on this back in summer 2000. The ride was just awesome. When it reaches the top at 12,600 ft, the cable car is almost travelling vertically. It was great listening to the screams as it passed over each changeover.

There's also a small museum/exhibition at ground level as it was such a feat of engineering during construction. Have a read, it's amazing.

May not be any good for Liverpool though. ;)

Aiguille Du Midi Cable Car (www.compagniedumontblanc.fr/en/aiguille/aiguille_telepherique.htm)

Thanks for the link Gazza; that was one ambitious project wasn't it? Bloody hell, I thought the cable car in Southport was scary :)

I have been back through all of the threads repeatedly and I just cannot see the 'New Mersey Crossing thread'. I have probably been a complete rem and over looked it several times. It has either disappeared (-is that possible?) or I have simply overlooked it. Well anyway, this article from today's Echo on the new Runcorn Bridge.- I will just put it in this thread instead...


Support for new bridge May 6 2005

By Nick Coligan, Liverpool Echo


BUSINESS leaders have joined forces to lobby the new government for a second bridge across the Mersey.

Supporters of the Mersey Gateway campaign today sent a letter to the Department for Transport urging approval for the long-awaited scheme.

They insist there is a compelling case for a new river crossing between Runcorn and Widnes and that time is of the essence.

Campaigners hoped to be given the green light before the general election, but no announcement was made.

Documents outlining the proposed £260m scheme were submitted to the government at the end of last year.

Cllr Tony McDermott, chairman of the Mersey Gateway Campaign and leader of Halton council said: "We have worked very hard over the years to build up a relationship with the Department for Transport at a political level and we want this issue to be at the very top of the new secretary of state's in-tray."

Organisations signing up to the letter include Jaguar, the CBI, Littlewoods, John Lennon airport, United Utilities, Pilkington Glass, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and the ECHO.

It says: "With a powerful and robust proposal in place that commands resounding support, the time is right for a positive statement from government.

"We would now urge your support for the Mersey Gateway so that work can begin to deliver this vital piece of infrastructure for the future economic growth of the north west."

If the government gives the green light, detailed work towards a planning application will step up. A public inquiry would follow and it is hoped the new bridge could be in place by 2012.