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Lift collapses after fierce winds
A section of an empty chairlift collapsed at Mount Buller yesterday
after strong winds lashed the mountain, reaching speeds of up to
144 km/h. The Mt Buller chairlift, built in 1981, has 12 supporting
towers and is 880 metres long.
Two lift attendants were performing routine start-up and safety
procedures at 8.40am when it is believed a chairlift wrapped around
a 10-metre supporting tower, causing the top section of the structure
to topple. The triple-seat Federation lift was about to open to
the public when it was derailed.
Problems elsewhere
The incident came a day after 38 people were stranded on the chairlift
at the Royal Melbourne Show after winds forced the lift's cable
to come off its pulley. Yesterday the ride remained closed as Worksafe
inspectors investigated. Worksafe's executive director, John Merritt,
said his organisation had inspected all of Victoria's six chairlift
operators since the Arthurs Seat incident in January.
WorkSafe Victoria's Michael Birt said the chairlift would remain
closed until inspectors could be sure what had caused the cable
to come off its pulley. The tower that collapsed was near the top
of the lift but visibility was so poor that attendants did not know
what had happened until they skied down to the wreckage.
Daily safety checks
The general manager of Buller Ski Lifts, Laurie
Blampied, said the mountain had been hit by extreme winds for two
nights, but said all other lifts were operating normally. He reassured
skiers that all lifts were safe.and that the lift derailed during
a standard procedure before it was opened to the public. He says
extreme winds in the Alps the night before caused structural damage
to one of the towers of the Federation triple chairlift.
"The lift crew was following
their normal and standard operating procedures at the time and that
is to do their checks on stopping and starting and to run the lift
prior to doing a line inspection," he said. "I guess what's happened
here really reaffirms the importance and the effectiveness of our
pre-operational checks."
[Source: ABCnews, theage.com]
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