Cable Transport

tahanson43206 · 2024-09-07 05:38:08

For SpaceNut ... we only had one topic with the word "cable" in the topic, and that one was about artificial gravity.

This topic is offered for NewMars members to develop and comment upon idea for transport of goods over long distances using a system of cables.

Cables have been used on Earth for transport of goods and people for many years.

Calliban has contributed numerous posts on this subject, including description of both historic and still-existing systems.

Recently, kbd512 returned cable systems to view, in the context of energy storage.

This topic has the potential to collect detailed specifications for systems that might be deployed on Mars.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2024-09-07 05:39:18

This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members over time.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2024-09-07 05:41:35

The inspiration for this new topic is a post by kbd512 ...

kbd512 wrote:

tahanson43206,
Since cable cars require so very little energy per ton-mile of cargo moved, I was thinking that some combination of vacuum and trompes would supply the power to move them by providing a gravity assist by way of raising or lowering the towers / pylons relative to each other, causing gravity to do the work. They won't be very fast, but they're using so little energy that they don't represent a meaningful energy draw to move great masses of cargo great distances.
Imagine that China or India is shipping Pig Iron ingots to the US or Mexico, or Australia is shipping Aluminum to China if you like, and the US is shipping cold rolled steel to Europe so that the Europeans don't need heavy industry to obtain their high energy materials. Shipping a lot of heavy metal increases the cost of the metal, but the only thing the end users want to pay for is the metal itself. They don't want to pay for any fuel they don't absolutely have to. How fast the product arrives is irrelevant to receiving a steady supply in huge quantities. So long as massive coils of metal keep coming in the door, nobody cares if their shipment proceeds at 5 to 10mph across the Atlantic and Pacific.
Reliable delivery schedule is critical, and a cable car system will reliably ship low value but stable materials for pennies on the dollar, even after factoring in the infrastructure costs. Recall that cable car systems used in mines in the UK have been running continuously for more than 100 years. It now costs a small fortune to ship things between continents. The only long-term reliable way to cut the cost is to cut the fuel bill to zero. We'll still need ships for transporting people, food, medicine, and other consumer goods that aren't stable, but there's no reason why we cannot ship low value goods without burning any fuel.

I'd like to see this topic develop with visions such as the one provided by kbd512, as well as historical examples from Earth.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2024-09-07 08:05:06

I am reminded of the first image in the gravity topic

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#1 2024-09-07 05:38:08

Cable Transport

#2 2024-09-07 05:39:18

Re: Cable Transport

#3 2024-09-07 05:41:35

Re: Cable Transport

#4 2024-09-07 08:05:06

Re: Cable Transport

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