Chairlift Damaged After Maintenance Personnel Loses Control of Ropeway Tension

Location: Interior
Regulated industry sector: Passenger ropeways–Above surface ropeway

Incident Overview

During maintenance work, the control over the ropeway tension system winch was lost while workers were adjusting the tension in the ropeway. The chairlift relies on a gravity counterweight tension system to maintain the proper tension in the haul rope, and the equipment being used for the winch operation became disconnected. As a result, the winch started unwinding the tension system rope uncontrollably. It stopped when the counterweight reached the bottom and the carriage hit the front rail limits. The maintenance personnel were unsure of the tension system winch operation which led to this incident and system damage. Insufficient maintenance experience and written procedure for maintenance personnel likely contributed to the incident.