A Bell UH-1 Iroquois, operated by Beck Helicopters, lifts one of three new towers on to the steep face of Bob’s Peak yesterday, part of Skyline Queenstown’s $250 million redevelopment project.
In all, 10 towers are being erected for the new gondola cableway, but the other seven will be erected using diggers and cranes.
The Iroquois operated throughout much of yesterday removing the old towers and replacing them with the new ones which, by July, will support 36 new 10-seater Doppelmayr cabins, which will increase capacity from 1000 an hour to 3000.
PHOTO: RHYVA VAN ONSELEN
Before the gondola reopened, new top and bottom terminals would be completed, while earthworks would start on an extension to the top restaurant/terminal building, expected to take a couple of years, once it was running again.
The new bottom terminal would have a temporary ticketing facility until about November, while a 400-space car park, being constructed beside it, would be finished by next March.
