Pfaff-silberblau BETA wire rope winches are used to move the collar of the Rigoletto on the lake stage at the Bregenz Festival

Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products supplied three BGV C1 BETA wire rope winches for this year's stage programme on the lake stage of the Bregenz Festival. The winches adjust the heavy sections of the stage floor, the so-called collar. The movements of the stage character provide a real show experience at the performances of Rigoletto, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, which ended this year's season in mid-August.

BETA electric wire rope winches from Pfaff-silberblau are robust and also suitable for non-industrial applications, e.g. in public buildings, in sports facilities or for stage technology. Thanks to their BGV C1 design, they meet the occupational safety requirements for areas where people are below loads. Due to the technical stage approval, the company responsible for the "collar" construction, Ludwig Steurer Maschinen und Seilbahnbau, decided to install these Pfaff-silberblau wire rope winches from the BETA series.

The collar is an inclined surface and consists of a fixed part and three movable sections. The three collar sections on the spectator side of the stage figure are opened and closed during the performance from a closed compound. The stage parts run on a ramp, a rail construction, and are moved by the three BETA wire rope winches. The electric winches are suitable for high loads and move platform parts with dead weights of up to 20 tons effortlessly. They are characterised by shaft encoders on the drum and motor shaft for drive and travel monitoring, brake air monitoring and a wire rope pressure drum.

Looped application in water

The Pfaff-silberblau wire rope winches are integrated into the stage sequence via a central theatre control system. As the collar opens, the head lowers down into the collar. The tracks are completely immersed under water and most of the wire ropes are also guided in the water, which is why the installation was carried out by divers. When connecting the carriages, the wire rope was looped once to obtain half the speed or twice the force.

The Bregenz Festival is a cultural festival and attraction for many visitors. The world's largest lake stage in Bregenz has almost 7000 seats. Filmmaking also takes place here, for example for the film "James Bond 007: A Quantum of Solace". Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, a captivating, eerily beautiful masterpiece, was performed for the first time this year on the Bregenz lake stage. The Pfaff-silberblau wire rope winches helped to ensure that the performances were a particularly "moving" experience. This stage set will also be used next year – with the same technical equipment and presumably with the same success as this year.

Further information on Pfaff-silberblau wire rope winches from Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products can be found at www.pfaff-silberblau.com/Wire-Rope-Winches/

Picture 1: Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi was performed this summer for the first time on the lake stage and in what was a truly dynamic production thanks to Pfaff-silberblau BETA wire rope winches (Source: Bregenzer Festspiele / Anja Köhler)

Picture 2: BETA electric wire rope winches from Pfaff-silberblau are robust and also suitable for non-industrial applications, e.g. in public buildings, in sports facilities or for stage technology.

About Pfaff-silberblau and Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products

The company Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products GmbH, Kissing/Germany, has ranked with its brand Pfaff-silberblau for many decades amongst the technology leaders in components and system solutions for mechanical motion and lifting technology. The portfolio ranges from sophisticated screw jack elements to innovative linear drives through to powerful lifting tables and wire rope winches. On the basis of these components, Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products also offers customized solutions for a wide range of different fields of application.

Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products is a subsidiary of the listed McKinnon Corporation (CMCO), Getzville/USA, a leading supplier of lifting and materials handling equipment. Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products is a partner of the VDMA sustainability initiative Blue Competence (www.bluecompetence.net). Further information on Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products along with its brand Pfaff-silberblau is available online at www.pfaff-silberblau.com.