Table Mountain Cableway re-opened on Monday August 12, one week earlier than expected following a five-week shut down for scheduled annual maintenance.
The maintenance team, made up of the cableway’s internal staff, riggers and equipment experts from Switzerland, completed over 400 hours of work.
The biggest jobs included the replacement of the heel and haul ropes, testing and replacement (where required) of the load bearing components on the cabins, the mechanical overhaul of the rotating floors and cabin door mechanisms in the cable cars and maintenance of the hydraulic and brake system.
Technical manager Emile Streicher said the heel and haul ropes are 2.4km long and together weigh 10 tonnes so a lot of man-power was needed to manoeuvre these. Although they work with big and heavy equipment, their to do list needed to be completed with finesse and accuracy.
“Throughout maintenance, we were required to adhere to a strict schedule. The biggest challenge of this year’s maintenance was navigating the unpredictable winter weather and it was not unusual for work to continue in the rain, wind and extreme cold,” he said.
Cableway managing director Wahida Parker said that safety is paramount to the attraction and annual maintenance was a non-negotiable. She said during the five-week shutdown they also took the opportunity to improve the visitor experience. The cafe has seen a minor overhaul with the installation of new ovens and general maintenance was done in the ticket office and retail areas.
“Core IT service and networking upgrades were completed and, in order to provide updated information to visitors, a digital signboard has been installed at the Lower Station queuing area. Improvements have also been made to the ticketing system which is currently undergoing further testing before rollout,” she said.
South Africans 18 years and older who celebrated their birthday within the closure period can redeem their complimentary cableway ticket until
Sunday August 18. The 3-for-1 Kidz Season special for locals is back, seven days a week, until September 30.
