Aerial lifts are a means of transportation
above the ground via cables, carrying anything from open ski lift chairs to
large enclosed cabins carrying multiple passengers. They are often a fast and
scenic alternative to travelling to and from higher elevations, or across large
deep expanses like over valleys or even the sea (connecting a mainland and an
island for instance). Examples from the Philippines’ neighbors include gondola
lifts in Hong Kong (Lantau), Singapore (Sentosa) and Malaysia (Genting
Highlands). But there is an even bigger cable transport system being planned
far to the north, one that will connect two countries across a wide river that serves
as a natural boundary.
CNN has it that companies in Russia and China are gearing up to
construct a cross-border cable car system connecting their two nations in a
fast and scenic way. They will be working on architectural plans drafted by
UNStudio from the Netherlands, which include a grand cable terminal to be sited
on the Russian city of Blagoveshchengsk in the Amur Oblast, on one side of the
Amur River. The cable line will ferry large passenger cabins across the river
to China, terminating on the city of Heihe in Heilongjiang province.
The proposed cable cars for the Blagoveshchengsk-Heihe
cable car line will be spacious and capable of loading 60 passengers plus their
luggage. There will be enough cabins on the system to ensure that one will
depart every 15 minutes. An estimate of the total travel time on the system on
either direction is anywhere from seven minutes and 30 seconds to a full eight
minutes, but the trip itself across the Amur will only be three and a half
minutes long. Still, that would afford passengers a great bird’s eye view of
the river, called the Heilong Jiang in Chinese.
According to UNStudio founder and
head architect Ben van Berkel, the Blagoveshchengsk-Heihe line is ambitious in
its pioneering goal to be the first cable car system to connect two countries
and cultures. "Cable car systems provide a new form of public transport
that is sustainable, extremely fast, reliable and efficient,” remarks van Berkel.
“Although primarily a pragmatic solution, cable cars are also a very congenial
way to travel as they enable us to see and experience our cities in a whole new
way." This concept is also to be implemented, he says, in the cable
terminals, with the Blagoveshchengsk complex featuring restaurants, a sky
garden, and an elevated viewing platform overlooking the Amur River and Heihe
on the other side.
We have won the design competition for the first ever cross border cable car, which will carry passengers across the Amur River, connecting Russia and China in a matter of minutes.https://t.co/EQRvqdFrqd pic.twitter.com/lkpkC2vZpD— UNStudio (@UNStudio_Arch) July 29, 2019
Strelka KB, a Russian consulting firm,
has management oversight on the project, which will begin construction of the
terminals, cable line, and passenger cabins by next year. UNStudio is still
finalizing and adding to the initial designs for the system.
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