 |
A cableway can be used to carry mine ore from the mine to the railhead as
in this photo. |
A cableway is also useful when large distances must be spanned as in this
photo. |
|
If several cables are used, even large loads may be
transported. |
|
But maybe you recognize them in a more familiar form? |
|
| If we use the
trussed towers from the previous page and some steel cable, we can make
another type of structure - a cableway. The diagram above
shows a simple, one car cableway with two towers. I have indicated
that the towers are resisting only compression at their bases. If
this assembly is to be stable, we must add opposing tension forces to the
cable as shown. The depth of the dip in the cable at the car
relative to the towers is related to the amount of tension we put in the
cable: High tension, small dip; low tension, larger dip. Let's add a car and see what changes. |
|
   |