Mountain hikers have been urged to familiarise themselves with the walking trails that will be open, and those that will be closed, during the 7-week-long upcoming maintenance shut down of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway (TMACC).

The Cableway will be closed between 15 July until 2 September for a mammoth multi-million rand overhaul.

It’s the biggest upgrade to the Cableway since 1997.

The managing director of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company Wahida Parker says hiking pathways directly under the Cableway’s cables will be closed due to work overhead.

Other hiking routes will remain open for hikers, although accessing hiking routes via Tafelberg Road will be impacted.

This is as the City’s work on Tafelberg Road continues while the Cableway closes for business.

Road users are urged to always comply with instructions issued by officials who are directing the flow of traffic.

The Cableway, along with all commercial and public outlets and operations at both the Upper and Lower Stations will remain closed to the public for the duration.

This includes shops, restaurants, and ablution facilities.

Hikers should be aware that there will be no cable cars operational to take them down after hiking to the top.

Thus, hikers should be mindful of changing weather conditions when embarking on a hike up Table Mountain, knowing that they would have to hike down.

Over the coming weeks, throughout the build-up to the shutdown, Cape Town residents and tourists can expect early morning helicopter activity on and around the mountain, as equipment is flown to the top.

The Managing Director of the TMACC Wahida Parker says the annual maintenance project, while longer than usual, comes during South Africa’s winter season which is generally a quieter period for tourism.

Parker says as always, the free birthday ticket promotion remains valid.

South Africans whose birthdays fall within the 2024 annual maintenance shutdown period can still claim their free Cableway birthday ticket during the month of September 2024.

Below are the access closures during the 7-week shutdown period:

Cableway shut-down: The Scope of the work

Technical Executive at TMACC Andries de Vries says while some maintenance periods are less intensive and disruptive, the work planned for 2024 is more extensive.

“Just like how we take our cars in for regular servicing, based on actual mileage, we rigorously inspect and service every aspect of the Cableway, ensuring consistent alignment with international best practice and the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) specifications.”

He explains the various pieces of equipment and components of the Cableway (including the cable cars themselves, the track ropes, and other infrastructure items) each require their own unique routine inspection cadences and maintenance cycles, as recommended by the OEM.

Technicians, several of whom are flying in from Switzerland, will perform a full cable replacement for the first time since the 1997 revamp, as well as maintenance of the hanging and running gear, as per OEM (Doppelmayr Garaventa) specifications.

“This winter we will be replacing all four of the 1.5 km-long track rope cables (the station-to-station length is 1.2 km),” de Vries says.

The engineers will inspect every minutia of the operating equipment, the cars, and all their component mechanisms.

In addition to the cable replacement, all the hanging gear and running gear, will be subjected to a complete disassembly, followed by a comprehensive nuts-and-bolts overhaul.

“To complete the extensive work, key tooling like winches – which are extremely large and heavy must be flown up the mountain piecemeal, by heavy-lift helicopter, and then expertly assembled at the summit,” De Vries notes.

Ahead of the maintenance, TMACC started shipping in specialist equipment, supplies, and the necessary tooling from Switzerland, months in advance. This time buffer also serves as a safety net against possible port delays.

Skills transfer

“Skills transfer is a significant, yet often overlooked aspect of our annual maintenance shutdowns,” says de Vries. He explains that an expert team, from the OEM will fly in from Switzerland to assist the TMACC crew with the maintenance work.

“This gives our local technicians a valuable chance to learn new skills and work alongside some of the world’s best cableway equipment specialists, thereby bolstering our local knowledge base and technical skills capacity. The practical experience TMACC engineering staff will get over these seven weeks is invaluable.”

The TMACC has encouraged locals and visitors to follow their social media pages to stay abreast of the latest with regards to the shut down.