The sound of cable car bells will fall silent one line at a time in order for San Francisco’s transit agency to overhaul and restore four gearboxes.
The sound of cable car bells will fall silent one line at a time in order for San Francisco’s transit agency to overhaul and restore four gearboxes inside the Cable Car Barn that help move the cable cars.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency approved a $3.49 million contract with UNICO Mechanical Corp. replace all worn parts, bearings, seals, and gaskets. The contractor will also inspect additional parts of the gearboxes once they are disassembled, according to a SFMTA staff report.
The gearboxes have been in service since 1984, the report said:
“The gearboxes are nearing the end of their service life and are in need of a complete overhaul and inspection to continue cable car service.”
Residents and tourists though will face some challengers as the overhaul of the gearboxes will require the shutdown of cable car lines, but not all at once. The first gearbox crews plan to fix first is the spare, which is storage located at the Burke Storage Facility at 1580 Burke St.
SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin said the overhaul of spare gearbox will begin sometime in the summer, but will not affect cable car service.
Work on the California line would begin in fall 2017 followed by the Powell lines in the spring 2018.
The replacement of the gearbox for the Mason line would start in the fall 2018 and the Hyde line would conclude the repair work in 2019, said Reiskin.
Each shutdown will be for eight continuous days.
Reiskin added that the repairs to the gearbox on Hyde line may require the complete shutdown of the entire system.
The total cost of the project is $6.97 million and is funded by local and federal funds.
Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.
Past non-work-related cannabis use will no longer be a reason to discriminate against applicants in the hiring process for...
Four people were cited and their vehicles were impounded for reckless driving in Fairfield on Monday.
Learning you have cancer can be devastating. That will happen to nearly 1.7 million Americans this year.
