News

The IRAM cable car - Credit : Leitner Ropeways - France

On 2nd of October 2015, the new cable car to the NOEMA observatory was inaugurated with the presence of participating companies, the IRAM staff, and numerous officials from the partner organizations as well as local authorities and representatives. The inauguration has been attended by over 200 persons and was covered by the professional and regional press.

With the history of the accidents 16 years ago, the construction of the new cable car has been a long and complex project. During the inauguration a special thought has been dedicated to the victims and their families.

Allocations were given by Mme Jacqueline Puget, the mayor of the municipality of Dévoluy, M. Jean-Marie Bernard, the president of the Conseil Départemental des Hautes-Alpes, Mme Karine Berger, member of the French parliament, M Pierre Besnard, prefect of Hautes-Alpes, and Dr Karl Schuster, the Director of IRAM. Dr Denis Mourard, scientific deputy-director for astronomy at INSU/CNRS and Markus Schleier, from the Max-Planck-Geselschaft headquarters, both members of the IRAM Council, underlined the role of IRAM as an outstanding international collaboration for advanced research in astrophysics and the importance of the new access.

A technical presentation of the new cable car and its construction was given in the following by LEITNER France, through Mr Laine, head of project and Mr Ribot, president.

Officials' allocations - Credit : François05, Remontées Mécaniques.net	Credit : Bruno Pissard/IRAM

While the inauguration took place at the lower cable car station, a group of 30 persons was transported by the cable car for a visit of the observatory. The inauguration program was concluded with presentations of a selection of science results obtained with NOEMA and the IRAM instruments.

The creation of a new and reliable access was an essential condition for the future of the observatory at Plateau de Bure and for IRAM as a whole. The new cable car was constructed by LEITNER France and is operated by SEETI. It will ensure safe and efficient transport of persons and material to the observatory and allow to develop future outreach activities including guided visits of the observatory by small groups. 

The IRAM cable car - Credit : LEITNER France