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Cable car in canton Valais replaces bridge destroyed by storms

Cable car bridges road destroyed by storm in Val de Bagnes
Cable car bridges road destroyed by storm in Val de Bagnes Keystone-SDA

Starting Monday, a cable car will operate in Val de Bagnes in Canton Valais to replace a bridge that was washed away in storms last summer.

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It will supplement the transport services until the road bridge that was washed away by a massive storm has been rebuilt, the Valais cantonal chancellery announced.

Since the storms in July 2024, the village of Sarreyer has only been accessible via an upgraded forest road. The bridge over the Fregnoley torrent on the cantonal road to Sarreyer was washed away.

Time-saver

The 500-metre-long cable car covers the distance between the two villages of Champsec and Sarreyer in five minutes. According to Google Maps, it takes 26 minutes to cover the same distance on the upgraded forest road.

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The cable car, which took five months to build, consists of a cabin with eight seats. As soon as the Fregnoley Bridge is back in operation, the cable car will be dismantled. Reconstruction of the bridge is scheduled to begin in spring 2026 and will take around 18 to 24 months.

In July 2024, severe storms raged in the southern canton of Valais. Heavy rain led to flooding, landslides and debris flows. This caused extensive damage in the Val de Bagnes and led some villages to be evacuated.

Adapted from German by DeepL/jdp

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