Cities, SI-Urban
A cable car for the garden show
For a while they rode shrouded, but now their colorful design catches the eye: There are a total of 64 gondolas travelling across the grounds of the Federal German Garden Show (BUGA) in Mannheim, which will take place from April to October 2023 and is one of the largest garden shows to date.
Among other things, it also sees itself as an experimental field in the areas of environment, energy, climate and food security. The cabel car for the BUGA was already used at the Floriade EXPO in Almere, the Netherlands, and is part of the event’s sustainability concept.
Each cabin of the plant is designed for ten people, even wheelchairs and strollers can easily fit in the cabin. The seats can be folded down for this purpose.
This ensures barrier-free access to the cable car. The construction of the cable car costs around eight million euros. The cable car stations are another example of sustainable architecture in an urban context.
Natural space where possible
The roofs of the BUGA cable car are planted with greenery, thus perfectly blending into the green landscape of the exhibition with numerous advantages: The planting has a cooling effect, binds fine dust, absorbs ambient noise and provides new biodiversity areas.
Natural space where possible
Personalized OMEGA-V cabins
Pink, green and yellow light up the 30 BUGA 23 cabins. A further 34 are designed by BUGA 23 partners and -sponsors. The cable car, which was implemented especially for the event, serves as a connecting element for the two exhibition sites Spinelli and Luisenpark.
A ride on the cable car takes around eight minutes. According to the BUGA 23 organizers, up to 2,800 people can be transported per hour and direction. And that’s over a distance of around two kilometers. Visitors get a new perspective on the city of Mannheim with the cable car ride.
Among other things, the route crosses the Neckar River, Mulberry Island, the sports park and the new panorama walkway. Since the two grounds of the horticultural show had to be connected in terms of traffic, the cable car, which is powered by green electricity, was the most ecological and resident-friendly option.
Changing location
Major components of the ropeway (parts of the stations and the cabins) originate from the Floriade. As with the previous event, the entire installation will be dismantled at the end of the event and reassembled at a new location. Talks are already being held with potential areas for this purpose.
Technical specifications:
10-MGD BUGA 23
10-MGD BUGA 23
| System | Monocable gondola |
| Type | D-Line |
| Cabins | OMEGA V |
| Transport capacity | 2.800 p/h/d |
| Travel speed | 6,5 m/s |
| Number of cabins | 64 |
| Horizontal track length | 2 km |
| Travel time | 7 min |
| Drive station | Spinelli |
| Reversal station | Luisenpark |
| Supports | 10 |
