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SCENE by Bill Godwin
Page 55
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Mac's rope trick
AN OPERATION believed ever to have been attempted efore in Europe, four 26-ton rucks roped together like nk climbers recently carried 52-ton payload to an hitude of 2,600m.
When plans for a new Jnicular in the Grisons area of Iwitzerland called for the trans ort, in one piece, of the ',400m long main suspension able to the upper terminus, Ionths of preparation by a Aercedes-Benz truck dealer in :hur culminated in a unique onvoy of 320 bhp-engined X4 vehicles led by a Unimog.
As it was essential to carry he cable in a continuous length, t was distributed over four fehicles, with the first of the ?632Ks also carrying the vinding drum for installation at he top station. Specially de;igned pallets retained the ;oiled cable on the three other. tehicles.
All were roped together, not )nly to maintain the required iistance but also to be able to ise a special technique when iegotiating steep hartpin bends )n the 16km of severely-graded J ns u rf aced mountain track.
With certain parts of the route having a gradient of 1 in 31/2, weight transfer to the rear bogie in some of the tight bends led to loss of steering, so that the roping technique was effectively used for each truck to pull the following vehicle around the critical sections.
At a height of almost 2,000m, a blizzard halted pro gress for four hours until snowploughs and bulldozers, called up by radio, could clear the route. Having set out at 8 am, the mountain-top destination was reached just before four in the afternoon. Rough terrain mobile cranes off-loaded the cable and associated equipment to bring the operation to a successful conclusion.