#kilveyhill — Public Fediverse posts

LANDORE: The gondola terminal’s ‘bones’ are about to go up at the park and ride

The steel frame of Swansea’s gondola terminal is about to start going up at Landore Park and Ride, with Skyline Swansea saying the building’s foundations are now complete.

The next stage will put up the steel superstructure, “the ‘bones’ of the gondola terminal building”, the company says.

That will make the overall shape of the building “increasingly visible from the surrounding area”, it says.

From piling to steel at Landore Park and Ride

Piling for the base station started in August, when Skyline said the work would take about five weeks.

Steel reinforcement for part of the terminal can be seen rising out of a concrete base inside the hoarded site, with a piling rig still on site.

The park and ride has stayed open, but with fewer spaces since diggers moved in during June. Skyline has not said when full parking will return.

Swansea Council has funded a design study into moving the park and ride across the road to Alamein Road, opposite the Swansea.com Stadium.

More gondola tower foundations along the Kilvey Hill line

Up the hill, work is continuing along the route between Landore Park and Ride and the summit of Kilvey Hill.

Construction will become “increasingly visible over the coming months” as foundations for more towers are completed, ready for the towers themselves to be installed, Skyline says.

People may see contractors, equipment and temporary work areas at points along the route, it says.

Work runs from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.

A Sunday lane closure on the A4217 on 1 November

Skyline has also given notice that the southbound lane of the A4217 between Brunel Way and White Rock Roundabout will be closed on Sunday 1 November, from 8am to 5pm.

Southbound traffic will be diverted via Brunel Way, Morfa Road and New Cut, rejoining the A4217 south of White Rock Roundabout.

Seed on the slopes, and archaeologists at the summit

Elsewhere on the site, bare slopes are being sprayed green with a meadow mix, with native saplings to follow.

Archaeologists are still monitoring work around the area where remains were uncovered at the summit, with talks continuing with Heneb over how features may be preserved.

The £49m gondola and luge attraction is due to open in 2028.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

KILVEY HILL: Five weeks of piling at Landore, eight weeks of summit groundworks, and no more paths to close, Skyline says
The August update that set out this phase.

LANDORE: Diggers move in at park and ride as work starts on Swansea’s gondola, but parking is now tighter
When work began at the base station site.

SWANSEA: Landore Park and Ride set to move across the road, as funding approved for design study of new Alamein Road site
Where the park and ride could go next.

More on Skyline Swansea
Every story on the gondola and luge scheme.

KILVEY HILL: The Skyline site’s bare slopes are being sprayed green to grow a meadow

Bare slopes on Kilvey Hill are being sprayed green, as Skyline Swansea starts to cover over the parts of its construction site where work has finished.

Crews are hosing a mix of grass seed, mulch and nutrients onto the exposed ground, a process known as hydroseeding, Skyline says.

Hydroseeding on Kilvey Hill: a meadow mix approved by ecologists

The seed is a meadow mix “selected and approved by ecologists”, according to the company.

Spraying it on helps plants take hold quickly and cuts the risk of soil washing off the slopes, it says.

As the seeded areas grow, completed sections will “gradually blend into the surrounding landscape”, the company says.

Native saplings next, after a summer of felling on the gondola line

Young native trees, known as whips, will be planted over the coming months under the project’s approved landscaping and ecology plans.

They follow months of felling along the gondola corridor, where the hill’s conifers are being replaced with native broadleaf woodland.

When construction began in May, Skyline said trees and vegetation would be replaced at a ratio of at least three to one, with species including sessile oak, silver birch, alder and wild cherry, alongside more than 14,000 native shrubs.

Natural Resources Wales set out a 25-year plan in 2023 to replace much of the hill’s planted pine and larch with native broadleaf trees, before the attraction was approved.

The gondola run will stay clear as a firebreak

Not everything cleared will grow back as woodland. Swansea Council has said the main gondola run will be kept clear of anything that burns, as a firebreak, on a hill that burned three times in 15 months up to July.

Gondola terminal foundations finished at Landore

Foundations for the gondola’s base terminal at Landore Park and Ride are finished, Skyline says, with the steel frame of the building going up next.

Work is continuing along the line between Landore and the summit, where foundations for more towers are being completed.

Construction runs from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, the company says.

The £49m gondola and luge attraction is due to open in 2028.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

KILVEY HILL: Tree felling to continue ‘for months’ as Skyline gondola corridor takes shape
The felling phase, and the native woodland plan behind it.

KILVEY HILL: Skyline will mean fewer wildfires once it’s built, council says
The gondola run as a firebreak.

SWANSEA: Construction begins on Skyline Swansea, the £49m cable car and luge attraction that’s been years in the making
The planting promises made when work started in May.

More on Skyline Swansea
Every story on the gondola and luge scheme.