The Grave cable car, under construction, was again damaged by the fall of a cable. The work to restart it could last several weeks and may bring an almost white-white season to local merchants.
A huge blow for the local economy. The Grave device should not reopen before March, according to information from our colleagues from France Bleu.
A first damage on a cable had already delayed the opening of the station. But on January 20, during the work carried out on the cable car, an anchoring now a winch dropped, causing the fall of the cable which was to be replaced. He hit a pylon, who was seriously damaged.
“We must assess the magnitude of the work to be carried out but they will be important. I am pessimistic, the anchoring which dropped was supposed to bear 80 tonnes but there were only 17 tonnes, it is difficult to understand”, we said mayor Jean-Pierre Pic during the disaster.
Major work to be carried out
The cable must therefore always be changed, but it is now also necessary to carry out additional work to secure the damaged pylon. These major operations could last for several weeks.
Fabrice Boutet, director of the Alpe d'Huez tourism company (SATA), told France Bleu that the opening of La Grave was “pushed two months”.
-The first skiers should therefore not arrive before mid-March. This situation is catastrophic for local economic players who are on the winter season to carry out most of their annual activity.
“We were looking forward to it and everything fell on the ground, we don't know if the activity will resume, I am shot and disgusted, it has an impact for all of us,” said Juan, seasonal of the station, to BFM Dici.
Thibaut Ghironi with Mathias Fleury
France
