Valley, middle and mountain stations of the Gaislachkogl cable car

Description

Strong gale-force winds, deep snow, temperature variations of up to 60 degree Celsius and intense UV radiation: Constructions high up in mountains face extreme requirements that could only be fulfilled by solid structures until now. Environmentally-friendly lightweight constructions are now conquering this climatic zone. The elegantly sculpted foil constructions of the Gaislachkogl cable car at the valley, middle and mountain stations blend harmoniously into the mountains in the Ötztal Alps. The mountain station is 3.040m above sea-level, making it the highest foil construction in the world. The foils are extruded from 3MTM DyneonTM ETFE high-performance plastic and are extremely tear-proof, UV-resistant and highly transparent.
The Gaislachkogl cable car opened in 2010 and serves one of the most popular winter sports areas in the Austrian region of Sölden.
The prerequisite is the extremely high tear resistance of the Nowoflon® ET 6235Z foils
extruded by Nowofol Kunststoffprodukte GmbH & Co.
KG, based in Siegsdorf, Germany. Thanks to the specific properties of the 3M Dyneon ETFE high-performance polymer, the Nowoflon® ET 6235Z foils have a low-energy surface that does not allow snow to gather and a normal rain shower cleans the foils. This significantly lowers maintenance
costs.
Texlon made the foils at the Gaislachkogl cable car with just a single layer as the stations will not be heated. In contrast, multi-layer foil cushions
are normally used for closed buildings as they have very good heat insulation properties.

Description of the environmental conditions