Norsjö Ropeway

The Norsjö aerial tramway is a 13.2 kilometer long aerial tramway (cable car) that connects the Swedish towns of rträsk and mensträsk.

In 1989, the Norsjö aerial tramway opened for passenger service as a tourist destination. It is a portion of the 96 km-long ropeway conveyor that Boliden AB's forebears constructed in the 1940s to transport ore buckets from Kristineberg, Lycksele, to Boliden. This ropeway transported 12 million tons of ore concentrates containing copper, lead, zinc, sulfur, silver, and gold between 1943 and 1987.

The Norsjö aerial tramway is a bi-cable gondola lift with removable cabins hanging on a track rope and propelled by a haul rope, according to technical terms. Each cabin can accommodate four passengers and travels one way in 1 hour and 45 minutes at a speed of 10 km/h. A lake and stream are visible for 3 km of the ride.

However, to maximize the investment, it was decided to build the line through a number of recently discovered ore deposits to enable loading into the ropeway once exploration began — intermediate stations were needed roughly every 13 km, anyhow — as this would allow for exploration to begin. Supports made of reinforced concrete rather than wood were chosen because they require less upkeep and are significantly more durable.

Location: Sweden