Aerial lift pylon

Type of supporting structure

An aerial lift pylon is a pylon construction bearing the cables of an aerial lift such as an aerial tramway or gondola lift. Large pylons of aerial tramways usually consist of a steel framework construction, smaller pylons of gondola lifts are made of tubular steel. Early aerial tramways often had pylons of reinforced concrete and ropeway conveyors had timber pylons, if they were cheaper than steel pylons.

Pylons are not designed as a stopping-off point for passengers or goods, but some are designed to allow maintenance staff access to the cars. Some pylons have built-in ladders or stairs for maintenance access, and some taller examples have an elevator. The best-known and now seventh-tallest pylon is the Torre Jaume I in Barcelona. The tallest gondola lift support tower is the 214,8 m (704,7 ft) Cat Hai – Phu Long cable car which opened in june 2020. The tallest aerial tramway support tower in the world is Tower 2 of Ha Long Queen Cable Car built in 2016 which is 189 m (620 ft) tall.

Tallest pylons

Cat Hai – Phu Long cable car	2020	Vietnam	Cat Hai – Phu Long	214.8 m	Tallest gondola lift support tower in the world
Tower 2 of Ha Long Queen Cable Car^[1]	2016	Vietnam	Ha Long	189 m	Tallest aerial tramway support tower in the world
Seilbahn Zugspitze	2017	Germany	Grainau	127 m	Only pylon, the previous Eibsee Seilbahn had two
Lutugino Mine Aerial Tramway Terminal^[2]^[3]	1963	Ukraine	Torez	123.14	dismalted in 2014, was the tallest aerial tramway in the world when built, used for transporting waste material from a coal mine, tallest guyed aerial tramway ever built
Glacial Aerial Tramway Kaprun III	1966	Austria	Kaprun	113.6 m	The tallest pylon is on the third section
Skyway Monte Bianco, Section 2	2015	Italy	Courmayeur	110 m
Mississippi Aerial River Transit	1984	USA	New Orleans	109 m	The tallest pylon on a gondola lift; on 87 m pile foundations; demolished 1994
Torre Jaume I	1931	Spain	Barcelona	107 m	Intermediate stop of the harbour aerial tramway, also observation tower
Gant Hohtaelli aerial tramway		Switzerland	Zermatt	94 m	One pylon
London Emirates Air Line	Early 2012	UK	London	88 m	North Main Tower. River Thames aerial crossing between Greenwich Peninsular and Royal Docks
Singapore cable car	1972	Singapore	Singapore	88 m	Pylon I
Eibsee Aerial Tramway	1962	Germany	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	85 m	Pylon II - now replaced by the newer Zugspitze Seilbahn
Nizhny Novgorod Volga Aerial Tramway, Tower 4 & 5	2012	Russia	Nizhny Novgorod	82 m
Mittersill goods aerial tramway	194?	Austria	Mittersill	80 m	Two pylons for a tramway that never went in service and was demolished in the 1950s. One of the pylons was built of timber, the other of steel.
Singapore cable car	1972	Singapore	Singapore	80 m	Pylon II
3S Aerial Tramway	2004	Austria	Kitzbühel	80 m	One pylon
Torre Sant Sebastia	1931	Spain	Barcelona	78 m	Terminal of harbour aerial tramway
Roosevelt Island Tramway	1976	USA	New York City	76 m	Central pylon of commuter tramway
Wendelstein Aerial Tramway	1970	Germany	Bayerischzell-Osterhofen	75 m
Vinpearl Cable Car	2007	Vietnam	Nha Trang	75 m	7 pylons standing in the sea. Total height from sea bed is 115 m
Sandia Peak Tramway	1965	USA	Albuquerque	70.7 m	Pylon 1, inclined at an angle of 18 degrees
Eibsee Aerial Tramway	1962	Germany	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	65 m	Pylon I

Gallery

Funchal, Madeira
Pillar of the Glacial Aerial Tramway Kaprun III, tallest aerial lift pylon in the world until 2017 when the new Zugspitze Seilbahn opened
Torre Jaume I, tallest aerial lift pylon with regular stop
A steel truss pylon for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Tubular steel pylon in Funchal
Material ropeway in Nußloch, Germany
Inclined aerial lift pylon on Genting Skyway
Pylon of the Stanserhorn-Bahn with two bearer cables and two pull cables