A new LPG pipeline for Skyline Queenstown

Skyline is an iconic Queenstown tourist venue, but have you ever wondered how a Rockgas cylinder delivery is successfully completed at the top of the Southern Hemisphere’s steepest cable car? 

Originally the Skyline’s LPG supply was set up as a site managed by Insitu filling and a Bobtail from Dunedin would expertly navigate the narrow alpine access road to the top of Bob’s Peak. However, to ensure safer access, a vaporiser was eventually installed at the top building to be fed by ten liquid cylinders.  

Up until recently, the drivers from our Queenstown branch would offload the cylinders from the truck at the base and load them onto a cargo trolley, specifically made to securely hold the cylinders. The trolley was connected to the cableway and transported up to the top terminal building. Meanwhile, the driver would catch their own gondola to the top and wait for the cylinders to arrive and be unloaded. Drivers then rolled the cylinders to the cylinder station where the exchange was made. The process was then reversed to transport the empty cylinders back down the hill.

As part of Skyline Queenstown’s upgrade to install a new cableway and larger gondolas as well as upgrading the two terminals to accommodate the larger infrastructure, and a new restaurant area, they have installed their own reticulated pipe from the top terminal building to the bottom of Bob’s peak which has recently been connected to a newly extended Rockgas Queenstown Retic network. This work ensures Rockgas can continue to service our customer with a constant supply of LPG, while removing the need to transport cylinders by cableway. It will also reduce the delivery time by around 4.5 hours for the Rockgas delivery team.