A private company is renovating the state-owned cable car

Ski Resort Kolašin 1450, company Zoran Ćoć Bećirović, will fully finance the rehabilitation of the state-owned K-7 cable car, namely the terrain around one of the pillars of that six-seater.

The completion of the works is expected in the short term, so the cable car will be ready for the upcoming winter season, it was announced after a meeting between representatives of the Ski Resorts of Montenegro (SCG) and representatives of the private company Ski Resort Kolašin 1450.

On May 28, Vijesti asked questions to the Board of Directors (OD) of the Ski Resort regarding plans for the rehabilitation of the six-seater K-7, but instead of answering specific questions, the state-owned company sent a general press release.

The K-7 cable car connects the infrastructure of a private and state ski resort. Due to the collapse of the terrain around one of the pillars, it was not safe to use during the last season, and therefore did not operate. The collapse of the terrain was caused by the works of the private company Ski Resort Kolašin 1450, and now the SCG cites “weather conditions and heavy rains in June” as additional causes.

"The rehabilitation includes additional measures on the supporting structure of the wall, foundations and terrain on the slope near pillar number 4. In parallel, in accordance with the proposed measures of the expert team, a geomechanics expert has been hired to carry out several exploratory wells with the installation of a so-called inclinometer for soil monitoring, as well as geodetic measurements. All activities are organized and financed by Ski Resort Kolašin 1450... Due to weather conditions and heavy rains in June, and excavation for a road under the pillar, the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the K-7 cable car pillar collapsed," reads a statement signed by the acting executive director of the Ski Resort Bojan Medenica.

The state-owned company claims that "since the last repair and injection of cracks, at the end of November 2024, no new damage or movement of the retaining wall has been recorded." As they state, "it was announced at the meeting that the preparation of tender documentation for the selection of a contractor for additional repair of the cable car tower foundation is underway." After the selection of the contractor and the signing of the contract, the dynamics of the work will be defined, they announce.

They explain that the costs of visiting the site and the expert opinion of the Doppelmayr company (which designed the K-7 cable car) were financed by the Kolašin 1450 Ski Resort.

"Pillar number 4 of the state-owned K-7 cable car on Bjelasica is not safe for use without adequate measures to rehabilitate the surrounding terrain," wrote a court expert and appraiser, engineer, at the end of last year. Goran Račić.

He noted that the pole "experienced deformations that exceed the permitted values ​​prescribed by regulations, for the case when the cable car is not in operation."

"It should be particularly noted that the movements and deformations of the shaft of pillar No. 4 occur under conditions of constant load, that is, there are no useful (dynamic) loads from baskets with people on the pillar structure, nor are there any exceptional loads (snow, wind, ice on cables, earthquakes...), when the stresses in the pillar structure are many times greater," Račić's study states.

The K-7 cable car opened in February 2022, and nine million euros were spent on its construction from the state budget. It is a six-seater, 1,5 kilometers long, with a capacity of 2.600 skiers per hour, which enables the connection of more than 40 kilometers of ski trails at the state-owned Kolašin 1600 ski resort and the private Kolašin 1450.

In this way, for the first time, the tourist offer on the mountain was unified, and Kolašin, as repeatedly stated from official addresses, "became competitive with ski centers in the region."