The ski resort that built North America’s first aerial tramway is gearing up for another big news.
Nearly 90 years after launching its original tramway, New Hampshire’s Cannon Mountain will issue a request for bids in May to build what will be North America’s first third-generation tramway when it’s completed, according to officials at the state-owned ski resort.
The 4,080-foot mountain, the highest summit in the state’s ski area, secured $27.2 million for the project through state funding, and additional capital resources are expected.
“Given previous estimates and a 2023 bid process that saw no action and only one bidder respond, the project is estimated to cost between $25 million and $33 million,” Cannon Mountain CEO Jace Wirth told ENR in an email.
Cannon is currently working to prequalify two aerial lift manufacturers for the tender: Doppelmayr USA and Leitner Poma, a subsidiary of France-based Poma SA.
“It’s important to note that a streetcar is a unique piece of equipment with only a couple of manufacturers in the world installing these types of systems,” Wirth said at a recent State House hearing.
Preliminary Analysis
The ski resort, which is part of Franconia Notch State Park, retired its iconic second-generation tram in October after 45 years in operation. It will remain closed for at least two years while the new tram is installed.
Cannon hired SCJ Alliance, an engineering consulting firm based in Boulder, Colo., to collect data at the site before conducting a structural analysis of the existing streetcar infrastructure, including streetcar towers, terminals and foundations, to decide if modifications were needed to support next-generation streetcar designs and loads, Wirth said in a statement. SPJ was engaged to provide a detailed assessment and design.
SPJ’s preliminary analysis indicates that Cannon Mountain’s existing infrastructure can support construction of the planned third-generation streetcar at Cannon Mountain, Wirth said. “The existing infrastructure still works.”
Under his contracted scope, SCJ as a structural engineer will help revise the specifications of the previously contracted 2023 scope for a streetcar, which received state approval for an $18 million Department of Natural and Cultural Resources grant for maintenance and operation of the streetcar, Wirth said.
Cannon Mountain is seeking to remove the ambiguity surrounding the structural design and its capability, which led the manufacturer to withdraw its 2023 bid, he said. Wirth did not disclose the name of the manufacturer.
Wirth said it’s unclear what load the rope and the entire rope system can take on the towers, terminals and foundations. “When a streetcar with a haulage rope goes up a line, the streetcar cable is trying to almost rip the tower off the base,” he told the State House hearing. “When wind, ice and other weight loads move on the line, the steel can deflect in an associated way.”
A recent article published in a science and technology journal called Elsevier acknowledges the lack of knowledge about “ice accretion, ice detection and mitigation solutions for safe operations of the gondola infrastructure,” noting that “severe ice can 
The original Cannon Mountain Tram opened in 1938. Photo courtesy of Cannon Mountain
they accumulate” primarily on the downwind side of the lift, “altering the airfoil and adding significant mass to the supporting components.” This can cause problems when non-uniform icing intensifies drag forces, resulting in “additional balance and mass imbalance” that can put the lift at risk.
In Wirth’s “progress report” to state lawmakers, he said that while more load analysis remains for the towers, only “localized issues” are being examined. The terminals, however, will require more work, specifically the summit terminal, where a structural engineer is conducting additional tests to assess any additional needs, he said.
Over the next month, the SCJ team will evaluate the rock anchors that hold the foundations in place, instead of starting additional tests on Tower 1, a very steep slope, which should be a cost-effective solution for the state, he added.
During the hearing, Wirth also requested approval of improvements in three main areas, including, $220,000 for facility maintenance and repair, elevator infrastructure improvements, including exterior jaw tramway infrastructure replacements, and supplies to build a ramp to load/unload passengers on foot to a panoramic detachable chairlift that will help offset the loss of some infrastructure revenue of the tram to make snow
Generation after generation
During its 45-year lifespan, Cannon’s second-generation tram, now retired, made a one-mile trip to the summit in less than seven minutes and has carried more than nine million passengers, Cannon Mountain says.
Olympic skier Alec Bright spearheaded the construction of the original streetcar, which opened in 1938, WMUR reported. The Cambridge, Mass., native visited ski resorts by tram in Europe and thought New Hampshire was well-suited for one, too.
