The Gondola lift has an upside down J shape iron bar holding it. I was wondering why it is built in this way and is not straight? Does it have anything to do with balancing?
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The cables of this type of lift are routed over the top of pulleys at each support tower. The hardware supporting those pulleys extend beyond the vertical plane of the cable in a manner which requires that the gondola suspension arm be configured to clear that hardware. If the arm was a simple "L" shape, the gondola would angle into the support hardware. The shape of the arm is more of a "U" than a "J" as you can see in the image you've provided. Image below provided by Alamy web site, using search terms "cable car support tower."
The clearance provided by the curved arm is greater than that required by simple mechanics, as the system must consider sway in the gondola and prevent collisions.
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